Operation: Owari
by CherryTreeTimes
Summary: Don't read this
1. Chapter 1

**Yo! Welcomes to Operation:Owari, the FINAL PART TO THE OPERATION STORIES :**

**Hope you enjoy this one as much as the previous one :D**

**(Psst...for anyone who is reading my story "Art Class", I will try to update it soon. I know how I want it to end, I just don't know how i'll get it there y'know? )**

**Oh! Guess what~ chapters will be LONGER! :D**

* * *

Operation: Owari

Chapter One:

The Beginning

People don't realize how calming the sound of crickets are. They chirp, and lull you softly to sleep. Without them, the night seems dark, unsettling...and you feel slightly alone.

Well, at least that's how I felt about it. Maybe I was just over analyzing.

Tonight the crickets decided that they didn't feel like chirping and, as a result I couldn't sleep and was lying awake in an old sleeping bag staring at the sky.

"Can't sleep?"

I jumped at the sudden sound and turned on my side to face the person who spoke: Hibari Sensei, the person who had trained me all these months. He was from the same village as I, and had been my instructor at the shadow ninja academy. Hibari sensei was rather handsome, at least in my opinion, but for some reason was single. Having a girlfriend was something he "hadn't really thought about."

"You should sleep Shiori," Hibari sensei said, folding his arms. "You leave tomorrow right?"

I sighed and rolled over to stare at the sky again. "I don't know...How will they react to me coming home? I didn't tell my family I was leaving and I hadn't contacted them at all-"

"Don't worry about that. I've been sending them messages."

"Hibari-Sensei!"

He shrugged through the darkness. "I can at least have one secret from my student can't I?"

Sighing again, I closed my eyes and let the events of the past year to flood my brain. Training with Hibari-Sensei had been tough, and he wasn't the type to hold back—even when his student had a nearly ruptured stomach. Luckily, my injuries had since healed, leaving behind scars as a reminder of that day.

And a reminder of him.

I had tried not to think about him at all while I was out training, even though he was part of the reason in the first place.

Hibari-Sensei interrupted my thoughts by coughing. "My apologies...Goodnight."

No matter how much I tried, I knew I wouldn't be getting any sleep.

Morning came faster than I thought, and I was woken up from what little sleep I could get by the sound of water splashing around me. My eyelids were so heavy it took me a while to register what was happening.

Another splash, and cold water met my face.

"Rise and shine Shiori," came Hibari-Sensei's too-happy-for-morning voice. "Time to catch your breakfast."

I groaned and stood up, stretching and yawning loudly. There was nothing like standing in a cold stream trying to catch salmon with your bare hands. Truly amazing.

"Think fast!"

This was usually something yelled when a weapon or attack was flying towards you. Not fish.

With a heavy smack a salmon connected with my face, falling into my open palm. That was easy.

"Not fast enough, Shiori," Hibari-Sensei criticized. "If that was a kunai, you'd need stitches across your face."

"I think a cool scar would do me good," I said, staring at the fish as it went limp in my hand. "Lord knows my clothes aren't helping."

"Helping what? Your image?"

"Image isn't the exact word I was thinking of, but sure." Sitting by the fire, I took the fish and skewered it before sticking it right next to the fire to cook. Hibari-Sensei did the same with his catch...of five.

"If it bothers you so much, I can help!"

How often does a teacher offer to help a girl with clothing issues? Not often, I assumed, and even though I was slightly skeptical on the whole idea..who else could I turn to at the moment?

I sighed, watching my salmon start to turn a slightly delicious looking shade of tan. "Sure, Sensei. Help me out."

"Okay!" He looked pleased. "After breakfast we'll visit a friend of mine..."

My salmon had finally reached "done" status, the aroma nearly making me drool. Picking up the stick that it was skewered on and took a giant bite, the ribs showing through the spot where I had taken a chunk out of. When I had reduced it, and a few of sensei's catch, to a pile of bones with heads and tails, I stood up and started rolling up my sleeping bag.

"Where does all that food go," I heard him mutter as I put out the fire.

"High metabolism, sensei. High metabolism."

* * *

By the time we reached sensei's friend, I was hungry again. My guess was that actually getting up and burning so many calories tended to make me hungry faster. Perfectly understandable. But back to sensei's friend.

"Shiori here is having a wardrobe issue," sensei explained. "Maybe you can help her out; you do owe me after all."

I took the time to study sensei's friend: Male; probably late 20s to early 30s; short brown hair; mole under right eye; _very _flamboyant—possibly gay? After my analysis I realized that me and sensei were now alone in a kitchen.

"Sensei...is he-"

"Gay? Yes. Mochi is in fact, gay."

"His name is _Mochi?_"

Sensei chuckled. "Mochi is his nickname. His real name of course, I won't tell you." I wanted to pry, but decided at the last minute to let it go. I figured out a long time ago not to question sensei less he leave me feeling so confused my head will nearly explode.

Mochi's head emerged from a doorway before saying, "Come here hon." I assumed he was talking to me and I approached the doorway, suddenly feeling like a little kid. Maybe it was the strange look he was giving me, like he was saying "Ew" in his head.

Mochi led me to a huge room filled with dozens of rolls of fabric, even more racks of entire outfits hanging perfectly near the window. He pushed me towards a full sized mirror and folded his arms, looking me over.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Mochi finally spoke.

"Take your clothes off."

"What?" This immediately reminded me of _him _and I sighed. Mochi huffed and marched over to me, lifting my shirt over my head before I could react. "Hey!"

"Oh calm down," he folded his arms after throwing my shirt on the floor. "I'm sure Hibari told you about me. Now, take those ratty looking shorts off."

It's nothing like being forcefully stripped by a gay man to fully wake you up in the morning.

Mochi pulled out outfit after outfit, forcing me to try each and every one of them on until something fit his taste. Finally, an "Ah" escaped his lips and he folded his arms, staring at me thoughtfully. "This is definitely it! If I was straight, i'd be all over you!"

"...Thanks?"

I turned to look in the mirror. I doubted I looked as good as Mochi was making it. The theme of the outfit seemed to be netting; as both my forearms down to my fingers were all netting. It was something that may be troublesome later, but for now it kinda looked cool. The shorts were regular, normal black short shorts (the type that showed off my ridiculously scarred legs) and the top was...interesting to say the least. It was black, styled like the kind of dresses i'd seen at a marketplace before.

Qi Pao I think was the name?

It had blue stitching, which formed a giant flower running up the side, and once I turned around, I found that the back was out.

All in all, sure, it was a nice change from torn knee length shorts and a plain tank top. I could have done without my scarred thighs showing though.

"So? What do you think?" Mochi asked, arms still folded and face hopeful.

Exhaling, I picked up my headband and tied it around my waist to cover up the small amount of stomach my shirt wasn't covering. "It's awesome. Thanks, Mochi."

"Oh no need to thank me, sugar you needed it!"

As I contemplated whether or not this was an insult, Mochi dragged me back into the kitchen where sensei was waiting.

"Wow," he said. "What an image change Shiori. You look like a completely different person!"

"...Thanks?"

Sensei said his goodbyes to Mochi, and we were off. Walking down a path called life to a place called the Shadow village.

"How long have you known Mochi?" I asked, kicking a rock with my foot. Sensei raised his eyebrows and looked down at me, an expression I was used to seeing from him.

"Well," he started, returning his gaze to the road in front of us. "In my academy days I was a teeny bit bi-curious-"

"Sensei!" I put a hand over my mouth to stifle my little girl-ish giggles.

"Well...that was all in the past. Unless you wanna know more.." He nudged me and I laughed louder and harder.

Did it make me a pervert for kinda-sorta wanting to know more?

* * *

My heart beat insanely fast, like it was trying to escape from my chest. Fresh beads of sweat rolled down my forehead as I stared at my new opponent. I was confident; I wouldn't lose. There was no way I could!

"Are you going to open the door or not Shiori?"

My hand trembled as I reached for the doorknob to my parent's house. I hadn't seen them in more than 12 months. A whole year! On the other hand, sensei did say he had been sending letters to them as updates.

But still!

Impatiently, sensei reached in front of me and put his hand on mine, turning the doorknob. It creaked open and I nearly facepalmed. Leave it to my parents to have their door unlocked in a dangerous world such as this.

It was quiet, too quiet, and a sense of uneasiness immediately swept over my body. It was never that quiet in the house; the twin monsters would be wreaking all sorts of havoc.

On guard, I looked around the house, trying to kill the nervous feeling bubbling in the pit of my stomach.

"The house is empty," sensei said, appearing around the corner. I jumped, staring daggers at him for scaring me.

"Calm down." He patted my shoulder. "No one's home. Don't worry yourself so much over it. I'm sure they're fine."

Maybe he was right. I was probably just being jumpy and paranoid, what with it being my first trip home in over a year.

My stomach growled, breaking the silence. Chuckling, sensei patted my shoulder again. "Alrighty, you glutton of a woman, how about lunch my treat?"

"Now you're talkin'."

The walk up to the clouds was a fun one, seeing things I hadn't in a while—some old, some new. One of the new things was the small, solemn faced little girl with pigtails holding a balloon.

"Ami?"

She jumped at the sound of my voice and looked around wildly before spotting me. As soon as I ran over to her, she bursted into tears, nearly letting the balloon she was holding go.

"Ami, what's the matter?"

"I-I don't know where Ichiru is!" she wailed, nearly letting the balloon go again. Going into "big sister" mode, I tried to calm her down and figure out why she was so hysterical.

"Okay," I took her balloon and handed it to sensei. "Where did you see him last?"

Ami sniffed and pointed to a spot a few feet from where we stood. "He was standing right there with his balloon and I went to get my balloon and-and when I turned around he was gone!" She looked on the verge of hyperventilating and I had to pick her up to calm her down more. She was a bit heavy, being eight and all, but luckily she was short.

Immediately, I started to ask around, hoping someone had a clue as to where Ichiru had gone. He was a big crybaby, and had the attention span of a squirrel, so he could have been anywhere in the entire village.

"Excuse me," I walked up to the old man selling the balloons. "Have you seen a little boy; looks exactly like this girl except for shorter hair?"

The old man stared at me for a while, eyes roaming places that were making me uncomfortable. "Nope."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep."

Some help he was. Sighing, I set Ami down and said, "Sensei, look after her. I'll go look for Ichiru."

Sensei nodded and held out his hand for Ami to take. She stared at it, then up at me.

"It's fine. He's my sensei."

I didn't see if she had taken sensei's hand for I was already running down the opposite direction of the street. It was one of those days where the streets were jam packed with people walking in both directions. I was caught in a sea of people, being pushed this way and that, before I finally took refuge in an alleyway. Not only were the streets crowded, but the summer sun was beating down on my head, making me instantly wish I had a parasol.

As I sizzled in the sun, a blue balloon caught my eye. Whoever was holding it, I couldn't tell, but it was the same color as Ami's balloon. I pushed through the crowd as best as I could, trying to follow the balloon that was steadily bobbing farther and farther away. Once I reached the end of the street, I temporarily lost sight of the balloon and I panicked.

I passed another alleyway, and peered down into it, locking down on my target.

"Ichiru!"

Ichiru, who had been sitting with his head down, looked up and of course...burst into tears. Maybe I couldn't stress it enough. I hated tears. I hated even when I cried, it just was something that I disliked for no real reason. Just like touching. Okay that had a real reason.

Touching just irked me.

Kissing I could deal with though.

But it still irked me.

* * *

By evening, I had since located my parents and dropped off the twin monsters (after being smothered by my mother who "missed me so much!"). Sensei had gone home and that left me, aimlessly wandering around the village, not wanting to go to my apartment just yet. I could probably guess how much dust covered everything. Not to mention the food in my kitchen had undoubtedly gone bad. How would _that _smell?

I sidestepped into a tea shop and sat at a table. Behind me two men were having a conversation, that I, being bored, was definitely _not _trying to eavesdrop on.

"What would you like, miss?"

The old woman who ran the teashop with her husband was standing in front of me, smiling warmly. It reminded me of a grandmother, someone I..

Did I have a grandmother?

It was something i'd have to ask my parents later.

"uh, Tea and dumplings I guess."

The woman chuckled and nodded before waddling away, leaving me to quietly listen to the conversation going on behind me.

"Hey, did you hear?" said one of the men, his voice suddenly dropping in volume. "You know that group of S-ranked missing nin? I forget their names; anyway, one of my partners said they spotted some of em in that little town by the beach."

"Aruzai?"

"Yeah. They say its nothing to worry about yet, but to stay on guard."

I stood up and left the tea shop before the woman could come back with my tea and dumplings. That was all I needed to hear.

Aruzai was my next destination. I had been at the beach near there a year ago with the entire family, before I found _his _"secret hiding place." First thing in the morning, i'd be there. I had no clue which Akatsuki members were spotted there, or if they even were spotted there at all. All I had to go buy is gossip from two men in a tea shop.

I smiled to myself as I headed towards home.

Regardless of my leads, this was only the beginning.

* * *

**Soo...how was it?**

**Good, i hope!**

**I'd really like to draw Shiori's new outfit but my scanner's down... OTL**

**Hopefully i can get it up, and if i do, i'll post a link to it! :3**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the late update~**

**It was all SCHOOL'S fault. ;A;**

**Enjoy, yes? :D**

* * *

Chapter Two:

Inside the Intricate Mind of a Kunoichi

...And the Idiots That Surround Her

My apartment smelled like death. Like a million dead bodies died, sat for a while, came back to life and then decided to die again. Know what the funny thing is? I wasn't kidding.

I had to remind myself that the next time I decided to leave for over a year, I would empty out my fridge—oh, and close my window. Rats had infested my apartment due to the abundance of food and a few were lying dead in the corner of my living room.

Fantastic.

I had begged my father to empty everything out for me, as the smell was beginning to make me weak. He had agreed to do it after grunting at me, something he started to do to me after the whole...explosion incident. Maybe he held a small disliking for me? If he did, he had a good reason, I suppose, but come on! I was his daughter! His oldest!

"Dad, are you done yet?" I asked, covering my nose and entering the living room. He grunted in response, hauling a huge garbage bag over his shoulder.

"Open all the windows," he said as he passed by. "It should be fine in here by nightfall.."

I watched him leave and go down the steps, limping as he did so. Alongside the bad burns decorating him, the limp was something dad acquired the day he was caught in Deidara's explosion.

My breath hitched in my throat suddenly.

I hadn't said or even thought _his _name since I left to train. I was making so much progress, too.

Anyway, my plan to go to Aruzai first thing this morning was cut short after my mother practically begged me to come over later since she hadn't seen me in over a year. She probably wouldn't let me leave anyway if I tried.

But I didn't give up! Regardless of how long I had been from home, the sooner I got to Aruzai, the better. Could I be on my way to a wild goose chase? Yes, but that didn't matter. Passion had a way to cloud up your mind. I was determined to beat him, make him say uncle! I knew he thought I was weak—a little girl who needed protection.

Whatever it took, I would prove him wrong.

After all the windows were opened, I closed and locked the door on my way out. I would obviously have to buy more food—_after _I came back from Aruzai. It'd make no sense to buy more food only to leave.

Birds chirped and whatnot as I made my way towards my parents' house. I stopped suddenly, thinking I should try my luck at merging with the shadows again. Just as I closed my eyes and was about to atempt the difficult jutsu, a voice behind me made me jump.

"Shiori? Is that you?"

Whirling around, I was met with the familiar eyeless face of Makoto. He examined me closely before giving me a gigantic bear hug that nearly squeezed the life out of me.

"Glad you're back!"

"Glad to be back, Makoto," I answered truthfully, smiling. Honestly, I was really glad to see a familiar face, even if that face was "eyeless." Makoto hadn't changed much since the last time I saw him; save for a few more inches added on to his height and slightly longer hair in the back. As much as I hated to admit, Makoto was _very _attractive. It was something I had noticed but never really paid much attention to.

But! Even so, I had more pressing issues to worry about. And one of those issues had blonde hair.

Beaming at me, Makoto fidgeted as if he was debating on whether or not to do something. Finally I put a stop to it. "Have to pee?"

"No I.." he paused, cheeks tinted a slight pink. "I was really worried about you actually. I thought you had somehow gotten mixed up in with those Akatsuki people again. Where'd you go anyway?"

It was now that it dawned on me that Makoto hadn't known that I had left to train along with my family. But unlike my family, he hadn't been notified that I was okay. For this reason, I felt a little bad. "I was training," I replied. "To get much stronger than I was. Because, I sucked. And all I had was my memory to go by on...and I couldn't defend myself well...and I was constantly being kidnapped...and my weight fluctuated constantly...and-"

"Okay!" Makoto yelled, interrupting my self loathing. "It's nice to know you went to get stronger. Wanna spar with me?"

For a minute I stared at him strangely before my mind registered what had been asked. Then, without thinking, I tried my hand at a little "friendly punch on the shoulder" that i've seen people do so many times.

I may have put a little _too _much force into it. You see, i'd never friendly punched anyone, so it wasn't entirely my fault that Makoto went flying into the trash cans in front of a building. His eyes widened in surprise as what just happened sunk in and before I knew it he was back on his feet, cheeks tinged pink.

"You know what? How about we put that sparring match on hold?"

"Okay..."

Makoto traveled with me to my parent's house, not so subtly rubbing his shoulder the whole way. Me and him both knew that punch hurt, but his male pride wouldn't let him admit it. Unfortunately, images of _him _flashed through my mind and I shivered. _He _was the king of male pride; a prime example being when his arm was missing and he was bleeding pools, "help" from "someone like me" wouldn't be necessary.

Please.

As soon as I approached the front (unlocked) door, Mom threw her arms around me and dragged me into the kitchen, similar to a tiger pulling in their fresh kill.

"Shiori Shiori Shiori!" she yelled, swinging me from side to side as best as she could. "Oh how i've missed you!"

I stayed stuck in her grasp for two bursts of tears before I was released, and I slunk over into the hallway to see what the twin monsters were up to. Their door was opened partially, making it easy for me to peek in and see.

Ami was on her back, with Ichiru over her, doing something I never in my mind would have even thought of.

"Ichiru!" I yelled, running over and pulling him away. "Why were you choking Ami?"

He huffed, his cheeks puffing out in the process. "Because she ate my cake!"

"What?"

"She ate my cake!" he repeated. "She had hers yesterday and today she ate mine!"

Ah, the trivial conflicts of young children. How I missed this excitement.

"Still," I bent down until I was eye level with him. "You still don't choke your twin. Apologize."

"No!"

Sighing, I resulted to bribing. "I'll buy you some cake..."

"Sorry," Ichiru mumbled, turning to stare at me. "I want strawberry."

Since I had been gone so long, the big sister section of my brain was slightly out of wack. Luckily though, my brain and overall mental state had improved in the last year and I had had no panic attacks...yet. Before I left to go training I was so out of it I was afraid the slightest thing would cause me to freak out—like maybe i'd quack like a duck and go strutting up and down the main street.

Thankfully I hadn't gone _that _crazy.

But I had come close.

Really close.

I dug around in my really small pockets for spare change, not wanting to disappoint Ichiru after my promise. Finding nothing, I tried the other pocket. Nothing. Not doing any missions would find a way to screw you up eventually, seeing as you received no funds. It looked like I would have to take out a loan from the Bank of My Parents.

The twin monsters followed behind me like a pair of ducklings as I rounded the corner and approached Mom, who was chatting animatedly to Makoto. She spotted me quickly, and turned in my direction, not saying anything—just smiling.

"What is it mom?" I asked, finding her smile a tad unnerving.

"You don't have a boyfriend do you, Shiori?"

It felt like someone had dropped a five ton weight on my head. Truthfully, I didn't quite know the answer myself. Did I have a boyfriend? Wasn't that something I should know? I had no answer.

I doubted i'd ever get one.

"Since you don't.." Mom went on. She couldn't have possibly forgotten about _him _could she? 'Impossible,' I thought. The way she was forcing the smile to stay on her face on this subject made me realize that she knew all too well why she was asking this question. She remembered.

We all remembered, and we would never forget.

"..Did you hear me, Shiori?"

I realized I hadn't been listening and I focused my attention back to Mom, who was pointing to a blushing Makoto.

"I _said _I think you and Makoto here would make a cute couple! You've always gotten along so well after all. Oh! And I bet you'd make me the cutest grandchildren!"

Before I could say anything, Makoto muttered, "Excuse me," and hurried out of the room, embarrassed.

"_Mom..._" I put my hand on my face and tried to keep from laughing. It was so like Makoto to be so easily flustered about things.

Ichiru tugged impatiently on the back of my shirt, whining, which would no doubt turn to cries if I didn't comply with his demand.

"Ami ate Ichiru's cake," I explained. "So he wants some more."

"Oh you'll be fine, Ichiru," mom said, waving her hand. "Did you forget? Today I had planned to make a cake with both of you!"

The sad look disappeared almost instantly from Ichiru's face as he registered what Mom had just told him.

That was taken care of.

Now, back to the important stuff. My plan was to pack the things I needed and try to head off towards Aruzai before nightfall. All I had to do was create a believable alibi, and i'd be all set. There was so many things to be done and so much danger I could be facing, that for a spilt second, I hesitated.

But I would do it, I would find him and prove to him I wasn't a weak little girl who couldn't fight for herself. I had been toyed around with for so long by him; treated as if I was an object; FALLING for him even—I was DONE being his plaything.

Looking up, I realized I had wandered back to my old bedroom, where Makoto was standing by the window. He didn't hear me as I approached him, and he jumped at the sound of my voice.

"You can just ignore what my mom said," I said in a halfhearted attempt to make him feel less embarassed. "She's always saying things like that."

"Yeah, I know," he replied quietly. "It was pretty tame compared what she was saying when you were gone."

If I had dog ears, they would have immediately perked up. "What? What did she say?"

Makoto's face grew redder and I feared the worse. After a few minutes of silence, I mulled over my options, and they all would have no effect whatsoever. Well, at least all but one. The worst one.

Trying my best to be girly, and using Makoto's crush on me as fuel, I attempted to imitate those girls on tv who bat their eyelashes at a guy to get what they want.

"Shiori, is there something in your eye?"

What was a kunoichi to do when she was surrounded by idiots? Absolutely nothing.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

To Aruzai With Love

(Part Une)

It was night, and the moon shined brightly in the night sky illluminating the streets as if it was waiting for me to get going. So far everything was going perfect—I had escaped my parents and Makoto, I had packed everything I deemed useful in one bag, and now all I had to do was go undetected out of the village. I was perched on my windowsill, ready to jump out into my carefully planned escape path when the hoot of an owl nearly caused me to fall.

Glaring in its direction, I re steadied my self on the sill. I had to jump from the third floor. Taking a deep breath, I jumped, landing hard on my feet. A very uncomfortable tingling sensation pulsed through my legs and I cringed, vowing to next time take the stairs.

Hoisting my bag over my shoulders comfortably, I took off, running through the first part of my path, which would take me to a secret opening to the forest. Leaves and twigs crackled under my feet, making me flinch as I ran. My heart was already beating a mile a minute, and my hands were clammy. I had to keep telling myself that if I was going to go through this, I would have to put a stop to the whole nervousness thing..

For this possible wild goose chase, I had a few changes of clothes (mostly clean underwear), some non perishable food stuffs, and all my savings—which I would need the most. The whole enormity of the situation hadn't fully hit me yet, and I hoped it wouldn't—I would need everything to keep me going. No one knew I was leaving to go find the Akatsuki members in Aruzai—which was a rumor. There was no proof that the Akatsuki were spotted in that small beach town, yet I was risking everything to find out. What would I do if no one was there? Turn around and go back home? There were so many reasons why this journey was stupid.

But if I cared, I wouldn't have been on it in the first place.

I arrived in Aruzai faster than I thought, probably due to the fact that I got lost and wandered around for a great amount of time. As I entered the village, warm air and the smell of seasalt hit me and I sighed, wishing the Shadow village smelled as fresh. It smelled like secrets and lies; trust me, that has a smell. For a long time I had been debating on whether or not to move to another village, and just by the smell alone, Aruzai was making its way onto my list.

Even though it was late, there were people still shuffling around, mostly entering bars and restaurants.

At the thought of a restaurant, my stomach rumbled loudly, and I put my hands over it as if that could stifle the loud grumbling noise. I shuffled awkwardly down the first street, anxious to first find an inn, then a place to eat.

After much searching, there seemed to be only one inn-an old, friendly looking building with a fish shaped logo on the top. There weren't many lights on, but as I entered, I could see that the lobby was brightly lit and a woman who looked to be in her twenty's stood behind the counter. She blew a bubble with her gum as I approached the counter, looking me up and down before asking, "How can I help you." The question was completely deadpan and didn't sound like a question at all, but I dismissed it and asked for a room.

She typed something in the small ancient looking computer, then turned to look at me again.

"Name?"

I froze instantly. Should I give my real name or an alias? It was something I hadn't thought about much. The woman's bubble gum popping, snapped me back into focus and I hastily answered,

"T-Takamiya."

"...Whatever, here's your room key. Don't lose it, we don't get extra shipments until next week."

Nodding, I took the key, which was attached to a fish shaped charm, and headed down the hall. The inn was completely silent, and the only sound was was my feet on the wooden floor. It's an unsettling thing to be the only source of noise in an environment devoid of all sound, and I hurried to room that matched the fish on the key (blue with white scales) so the feeling would pass.

The inside of the room was traditional—tatami mats lined the floor and to the far side of the room were paper doors that I assumed led outside. Shutting the door, I crossed over to the television and turned it on, dropping my bag in the corner. Since it was a traditional inn, there had to be a hot springs, right? What else would be there?

I needed a bath, badly. There were smudges of dirt decorating my legs and feet, and I smelled like moss—the one smell that would definitely not make it into a perfume bottle.

"Bath first," I muttered to myself as I grabbed the small basket from the closet that housed soap, a towel and a bottle of shampoo.

After my bath, I returned to my room to find food covering the wooden table in the middle of the room, the smell alone making my mouth water. From what I could see there was grilled fish, fried fish, shrimp tempura, a whole crab sitting on a plate, and three lobster tails. Those were only the seafood dishes. It wasn't like I expected anything other than seafood, and I was totally cool with no meat. Slamming the door a little too hard, I rushed over to the table and began shoveling food into my mouth. Half of the rice and all of the miso was gone before I could even taste it, and moving on to the main dishes was no problem. If anyone had seen me, they would have for sure called me a pig, but I wouldn't have cared. There is room to be a pig when your primary diet consists of instant ramen and store bought onigiri.

By the time I made it into the second lobster tail, my stomach had had enough. It was bulging as if I had just started "showing", and for a short moment I wondered if I would ever have any children when I was a bit older.

Letting out a large belch that echoed across the room, I flopped on my back and stared at the ceiling, thinking about what to do next. I came to a few options. I could either a) Laze around and stare at the television, b) Go out and explore the town, or c) Give up and go back home. The obvious answer was b, and I immediately hopped back up and got dressed, ditching my "ninja attire" for something else. Pulling on a pair of my "boyish" looking cargo shorts and a plain tank top, I stopped in front of the mirror on my way out of the door.

As I stared at myself, I realized I had been wearing clothes just like these when I was first taken and held hostage by the Akatsuki. I closed my eyes and thought back to all the things that had happened.

The dog collars.

The mistreatment.

The bruises, scratches, and marks.

The laughter.

And the fun.

It may have been due to my decaying mental state, but even though they were a band of famous, deadly ranked ninja, they were still regular people. They joked around like regular people, they played pranks on each other like regular people, and they-

No.

I stopped myself and drifted out of the door and down the hall, stuffing my room key into my pocket. Outside, the warm salt smelling air hit me and I inhaled, taking all the smells of a sea town in. I had only been in Aruzai for a total of 3 hours, yet I was already loving the atmosphere.

But I wasn't here to sightsee. I was here to get leads on the Akatsuki. Pushing any and all doubt into the back of my mind I trudged off, asking anyone I saw if they knew anything. There weren't many people outside by then and after the sixth person said they didn't know anything, I turned towards the inn and began a slow, disappointed walk towards it. I knew I shouldn't have come.

The street leading to the inn was narrow and empty, with large wooden fences on both sides, beyond which were tall bamboo sticks growing out of the ground. I immediately remembered that the hot springs were beyond the bamboo and I had a sudden urge to peek over on the male side.

Before I could however, a figure breezed past me.

Well at least they tried to breeze past me. Due to the narrowness of the road, they person knocked me over, sending me flying backwards. I landed with a loud and painful thump on my rear end. I would definitely be feeling that in the morning.

"Oh no!" said the person who ran into me. "Tobi's sorry!"

Whut.

My head snapped up so fast my neck cracked a little. "Tobi?" After my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw that the figure in front of me was wearing a swirly orange mask...

"Tobi!" I repeated, as if I had to convince myself that he was standing in front of me. He bent down a little and stared at me, before flinching and running in the opposite direction. Taking off after him, I cursed myself for not having on my "ninja attire." It was much more easier to run in them.

"Tobi get back here!"

"Tobi's not Tobi! I mean, i'm not Tobi!" He ran down another small road by the inn, which seemed as if it led to more bamboo and I followed, hastily avoiding trampling a rabbit scurrying across my path. I would NOT let him escape. He was my ticket.

Closing the distance between us, I reached out, barely missing the back of Tobi's neck. A rock on the path that stuck out irregularly caught my foot and I fell, taking Tobi with me. The path winded down slowly and we slightly became airborne as we fell, a feeling that I didn't quite dislike.

Finally we landed, hard, at the end of the path which just led to another path. The salty smelling air was gone, replaced by the smell of leaves and bamboo. Moonlight filtered down through the thick bamboo forest, illuminating everything in an eerie glow. The whole scene was so serene, it distracted me for a moment.

Then I noticed Tobi had taken off down the next path.

"Shit," I muttered, jumping to my feet and continuing after him. I wasn't as fast as I was before; the fall had hurt my left leg a tiny bit, but I didn't let that stop me. Pumping chakra into my feet, I felt myself speeding up despite the increasing pain in my leg.

Just as Tobi turned the corner I pounced, knocking us both through a pair of paper doors. We landed hard in the silent hallway, the sound bouncing off the walls. I cringed as a sharp pain coursed through my leg again, muttering a few curse words under my breath.

Tobi had almost gotten up again before I latched on to his leg, causing him to fall.

How lucky was I? I guess those men back in my village had been right, there _were _Akatsuki in Aruzai. At least, one of them were. I had no idea if there were any others. For all I knew, Tobi could have been the only one in the entire area.

But I was determined to see this cracked glass as half full for once.

"Where are the others?" I whispered harshly to Tobi, who I couldn't quite tell was looking at me.

"I don't know!" I grabbed his collar and he squeaked, apparently losing breath.

"Who are you with?" Hopefully he would answer at least one of my questions.

Someone coughed in one of the rooms ahead and I froze, dropping my voice and bending closer to Tobi.

"Who. Are. You. With?"

"N-no one Sho- I mean, whoever you are!"

Tobi's avoidance of questions was beginning to annoy me so I squeezed tighter on his collar.

"Okayokay!" he spat out, panting. "I'm here with sempai!"

Sempai.

My heart suddenly began beating furiously in my chest, blocking my hearing and dizzying my other senses. Tobi had almost escaped again. It didn't mean it was necessarily _him. _I mean, it could have been anybody. I'm positive Tobi calls the others sempai too.

"By sempai...do you mean-"

Tobi was silent for a minute, possibly staring up at me yet I had no way of knowing exactly what he was looking at all the time.

Inhaling, I closed my eyes and said again, "By _sempai, _who do you mean?"

I got off of Tobi and he sat up, staring in my direction. For some reason, I knew he wouldn't take off this time.

"Who is it?" I asked, eyes closed. I needed to know. I needed to find out whether I should turn around and go home or stay.

He still wasn't saying anything, and I felt myself going close to hysterics. I knew why he wasn't answering. I knew. He knew as well.

"It's Deidara isn't it?"

He nodded.


	4. Chapter 4

**Heyo everyone! Late update is late, i know. Blame school! I haven't had time to do anything D:**

**I really wanna draw art for this series and i know ya all wanna see, right? RIGHT? :D Wel if you do, go on over to mah deviantart page. I have recently drawn a picture of Shiori covered in bandages with "Property of Akatsuki" written across her mouth. Oh yah~ Anyways, enjoy this short chapter!  
**

* * *

Chapter Five

Speechlessness Seems to Come at the Worst Moments

"...It's Deidara, isn't it?"

Tobi nodded, looking at me with an expression I couldn't see. I wondered if anyone would ever see what was behind that swirly orange mask of his. But anyway, I had more important _pressing _matters to attend to.

And that matter was a so called _artist. _

I racked my brain, trying to figure out what to do now that I was here. For months and months I had been putting together an elaborate plan on what I would do when (or if) I met Deidara again. And it was simple: Kick his ass. Rinse and repeat.

My heart beat a mile a minute in my chest, hammering so hard against my rib cage I thought it would burst out.

Tobi waved a hand in front of my face, which I could tell was probably pale. "Hey! You alright, Shori?"

"I'm fine. Finefinefine," I replied, my words rushed together.

"Good! You wanna see sempai? I bet he'd be glad to see you!"

I doubted it.

Why would he be glad to see someone who he claimed to hate-love on a regular basis? Not only that, but I did just leave without any sudden warning. Not that it matters.

"Shori?"

My head snapped up, a look of sheer determination on my face. At least, I hoped it was. "Yeah! Where is the bastard?"

Tobi led me a but further down the quiet hall, passing a kimono clad inn worker scurrying to bring tea and a giant plate of dango and other sweets to a room. She opened the sliding doors with her foot and rushed in, fidgeting like she was afraid of something. After she scurried away, Tobi stopped in front of the exact place she had exited. I gulped, my hands suddenly beginning to shake. I couldn't do this.

Not now.

Not ever.

Maybe it'd be wise to go back home and continue a peaceful secluded existence in the Shadow Village until my end. That sounded nice.

"Shori? Sempai is in there."

I took a hesitant step forward, my hands on the sliding paper doors.

No.

I hadn't went through hell training with my Sempai for 12 months just to chicken out. I was stronger, I was confident, I was worthy of being called a Kunoichi. I had reason to wear the headband with my village's symbol!

Suddenly, anger began to bubble up inside of me. All these different emotions (mostly of the negative variety) were mixing, swirling around inside of me like a big pot of stew. Stew that would probably taste disgusting. Or delicious, depending on what your mood at the time was.

At the last moment, I tip toed into the room, shutting the door quietly. When I saw him, it's like a gust of wind hit me, rooting me to the spot and rendering me speechless.

It's funny how speechlessness seems to come at the worst moments.

He was facing the back wall, bent low over something I couldn't see. Scattered around him were clay sculptures, all strange little creatures with blank eyes and wide gaping mouths. As I entered they all turned to face me.

My stomach dropped into my bladder. I tried hard to ignore them, instead focusing on the back of the blonde bombshell with his back to me. His hair wasn't in the hairstyle it was usually in. The long, golden locks were pulled into a messy ponytail, random pieces falling out of the rubber band. His hair looked so silky; every finger on my hands wanted to run themselves through it, but I bit my lip and ignored the feeling.

It took me a minute to realize how shaky my hands and knees were, and how fresh beads of sweat were forming on the back of my neck.

A few minutes of silence passed, and I still hadn't found the right words to say.

Maybe I should have just ran up and put him in a chokehold.

"What do you want Tobi, hm."

That voice.

Oh how i've missed it. How could it be possible to love and hate something at the same time?

Another pause.

I took a step closer, wanting to hug him and stab him at the same time. Quietly, I took a few more steps, knocking over one of his sculptures in the process. One of them in particular catches my attention: it's a rather morbid looking rabbit with torn ears and scratched out eyes, its mouth a never ending coil. It was staring at me, its head ticking a bit from side to side like a broken wind up toy. I shuddered and reached out for it, turning it over and over in my hands delicately. Even if you didn't necessarily appreciate the artist themselves, you should still respect their work.

But that didn't mean you had to respect it all the time. For example, if someone creeps into your room and paints you naked, then you have every right to puncture it with a kunai knife.

"I like this," I said quickly, my voice loud in the quiet of the room. He straightens up, his body going stiff, and spins around, knocking the rest of his sculptures over.

"It's been a long time, how have you been?" His voice stung my tongue, sounding strange coming out of my mouth. I smiled pleasantly, taking a step to the left to admire the small clay creatures littering the floor. "I've been fine," I continued, talking to myself moreso than to him. "My stomach has healed up nicely if I might add. Still can't eat as much as I want to though."

His visible blue eye was as wide as it could probably go, watching me flip over his fallen sculptures. I was anticipating what he was going to do next.

If I knew Deidara, he was unpredictable. You never knew what he was going to do next. But it was usually the opposite of what you expected.

One of the many reasons why I loved that blondie.

And also one of the many reasons why I was positive I had gone mad.

Deidara rose from his spot on the floor and in a flash, I was pinned to the ground. (I totally let him do that...okay maybe not). His left hand wrapped around my neck, the other holding a knife to my cheek.

"I'm a little faster too," I mumbled with a sly smile, twirling my signatured kunai around my finger before pressing it to his perfect, unscarred throat. He smirked and slid the kunai across my face. I could feel the skin in my cheek split as he did so. Warm blood dripped down my face and onto my neck.

"Who are you really?" he whispered, that god awful smirk still plastered to his face. "Answer now and I might not kill you, hm."

I nearly laughed.. Was it sad that I missed this so much?

" 'Answer now and I might not kill you,'" I said, mimicking him. Probably not a good idea, but like I said before—I probably had gone mad a long time ago. His eye roamed my face, before traveling down to my neck.

There's no doubt he noticed the faint scar caused by the dog collar I was forced to wear so long ago. Then, his eye drifts downward towards my chest. Then, back to my face.

We stared at each other for a long time before I finally spoke.

"Hello, Deidara."

That was when all hell broke loose.

Deidara moved to cut me again, but I was faster for once, making a horizontal slice right under his collarbone. Why were we fighting?

Hmm. Good question.

I dodged the knife again, blocking it with my own. It soared across the room and into the wall with a sharp thunk. "Question," I said, holding up one finger.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Me plus you, equals fight. Tomorrow. One on one. No rules, except this: you can't use your clay."

"No, hm."

"Yes."

I leaned up, roughly pushing Deidara off of me. Was he chickening out? Or did he still not believe it was me? If it was the latter, I had proof.

Before I could turn around, Deidara roared, "TOBI!"

The swirly man came tumbling into the room, nearly destroying the paper doors. "Yes, Deidara sempai?"

"Who is this?" Deidara pointed to me, and I sensed some kind of emotion in his voice. An emotion I couldn't quite place.

"It's Shori. You remember! Our old pet!"

Deidara's visible eye narrowed and he turned to me. "This could be anybody, hm."

Well than. Thanks for severely hurting my feelings, Deidara. I turned to leave when a slightly damp hand grabbed my wrist. Instinctively, I whirled around, ready to attack if he thought about cutting me. Instead, he was focused intently on my stomach. His hand traced along the pink scars left from my little episode a while back. There was no way he could see that and still not believe it was really me.

After a few minutes, I began to feel uncomfortable—the reality of this situation finally deciding to stop by. Had I just stormed into an inn room, snuck up on an S-ranked criminal, and taunted him?

See? I told you I was going mad.

My thoughts were cut short almost as soon as they began by Deidara, who had all of a sudden decided to press his lips to the huge scar across my stomach. They were soft, and warm, and I nearly collapsed from a massive headrush. Something told me he knew it was me.

I didn't come there to be kissed on the stomach, I came here to beat the crap out of Deidara. Or at least try to if I couldn't. Pushing him away with one arm, I made my way to the other side of the room. This was strictly business, nothing more.

Swallowing hard, I turned towards Deidara and looked him straight in the eye.

"Tomorrow.." I trailed off, trying not to shake. "You and I will fight. One on one. Leave your clay; this is close combat."

And as confident as I could I made my way towards the door, making sure to grab a dango stick off of the tray on the ground. I tried to eat one to calm my nerves and ended up nearly taking an eye out. Smooth.

"The east side of Aruzai beach. Be there."

And then I left.

Would running and puking in the bamboo forest make my bad-ass level go down?


	5. Chapter 5

**HOLLLLYYY CRAP, YOU GAIZ. THIS IS SOOO LATE. I am so sorry DX**

**School is screwing me up, man...that and lack of inspiration-I dont want any crappy chapters ;u;**

**Hopefully, you'll forgive me, and enjoy this chapter.  
**

* * *

Chapter Five

Like a Game of Cat and Mouse

I stared at myself in the mirror mounted on the wall in my hotel room. I was a wreck—my hands were clammy, I couldn't stop shaking, and I was as pale as I could possibly get. It didn't help that I was throwing up every so often.

It was early in the morning; the sun hadn't come up yet. I was too jumpy to sleep, too sick to even close my eyes. It occurred to me that maybe I wasn't just nervous—maybe I was _actually _sick from something.

Had it been the food I scarfed down earlier? Sensei had told me that my eating habits would make me sick one day. Whatever it was, if my stomach didn't calm down, I would have serious trouble handing Deidara's ass to him.

My stomach gurgled loudly, and I groaned, flopping back down onto the futon. It felt as if my stomach was trying to leave my body, and it didn't care how much discomfort I was going through. Why, why, WHY was this happening to me now? Why couldn't I get sick _after _I had my fight at Aruzai beach with Deidara?

I had concluded that fate was out to get me. It hated me. It wanted me dead, or severely unhappy, and so far it has came close to both.

Brushing my hair back, I reached for my shoes. Perhaps there was a pharmacy in Aruzai, and they would have something to soothe my stomach.

On my way out, I found myself looking around and behind me to make sure I wasn't being followed or watched. It was an annoying nervous habit that I wanted to get rid of—it made me look like an idiot.

The streets were silent—no one was around, save for a few early birds or fishermen going down to their boats. I scanned the signs, anxious to find _someplace _ that had medicine. No such luck on the main streets. A small convenience store caught my eye and I rushed inside, scaring the daylights out of the old man sitting behind the counter. I didn't bother to apologize, just made my way up and down the aisles with one hand on my stomach.

The words "Pain Reliever" caught my eye and I skidded to a halt, grabbing two bottles off of the shelf. On my way back to the front of the store, I threw down money on the counter, not bothering to get my change. I was literally three seconds away from blowing chunks. Speeding towards the inn, I took the back path through the bamboo and straight to my room.

The pill bottle said it may cause drowsiness. I eyed it carefully, wondering if this would effect my spar with Deidara later. My stomach gurgled in protest to my hesitant thoughts. I downed 4 pills and closed my eyes, lying down on the tatami mat floor.

Just a tiny nap, I thought. And I would be all better.

* * *

I woke up to a woman standing over me, eyes wide and hand over her mouth. It was bright, too bright for it to be early morning. I sat up quickly, nearly headbutting the woman in the face.

"Oh i'm so glad you're alright!" she said. "I came in to tell you it was checkout time, but you were lying here with all these pills—I thought you had overdosed!"

Pills that had spilled out of the bottle lay scattered around me, and everything came rushing back to me.

"What time is it?" I asked in a slight panic.

The woman adjusted her kimono and replied, "Around 2 in the afternoon."

"WHAT?"

Hopping to my feet, I scrambled around the room like a lunatic, gathering my things and stuffing them into my bag. In my rush, I nearly tripped over the table.

My stomach growled at the sight, and it was then I noticed that I was feeling a lot better. The woman, who had been watching me run around the room, cleared her throat and spoke, "Ehm, it's not that big of a deal, miss. You're welcome to leave after you've gotten yourself together. The hot springs'll be open for another hour."

'Gotten myself together?' I look in the mirror. It looked like I had been caught in a whirlwind. I also smelled of sweat and seasalt.

Not a very good scent.

Bowing ever so slightly, the woman exited the room, leaving me to continue to have a Freak Out. Grabbing my clothes from Mochi, I rushed out of the room and down to the hot springs, where I took the quickest bath that I had ever taken. Only half drying myself off, I threw on my clothes and tied my hair into a ponytail.

Panic was still bubbling up inside of me, followed by anger. How could I have let myself oversleep? Maybe I shouldn't have taken 4 pills. This error had possibly cost me my No Hold Barred Beatdown redemption fight against Deidara! A year of planning, all gone!

Before I could begin wailing like a cat, it suddenly occurred to me that maybe I should go to the beach anyway, to see if he was there.

So I did. Walking confidently in my best "Haters Gonna Hate" manner, I made my way down to Aruzai beach, ready to be severely disappointed. People shuffled around me, and the soothing smell of the sea entered my nose as I walked down the wooden dock in the afternoon sun. I looked to the left, I looked to the right, seeing nothing but bathing suit clad teenagers and little kids with their parents lounging in the sand.

I was ready for this, yet I still felt like I wanted—no _needed, _to punch a wall or two. Ignoring the impulse, I walked over to an area on the beach and sat down in the warm sand.

"Figures," I muttered to myself. "I have the worst luck in the world.."

I laid back and outstretched my legs, tripping a kid holding a pail in the process. He face planted in the sand, his blue pail landing a few feet away. He got up and looked at me, right in the eyes, before brushing himself off and getting up. I watched him run back to what I assumed to be his older sister to continue doing whatever he was doing with his pail in the first place. I stared at him for a little while longer, the exact reason being a mystery.

Maybe it was to distract me from my major screw up of taking too many meds and oversleeping. Was it safe to call me an idiot?

I put an arm over my eyes, trying to force myself not to break into tears, and sighed. It came out shaky and unstable. 'Back home it is,' I thought, disappointed.

A soft bump on my legs caused me to sit up quickly, only to find it was nothing more than the same little boy tripping over me again. "Hey-" I began, going to tell him to be more careful. My lecture was interrupted by something nudging me in the back. Softly at first, then gradually becoming more harsh. I whirled around, kicking sand up in the process.

Staring at me was that same disturbingly disturbing rabbit sculpture with the torn ears and thousand yard stare that I saw in the room with Deidara. It's head ticked bath and forth as it stared at me, and I wanted to hurl it into the ocean.

It nudged me again, before running off, bounding in a direction towards the far left of the beach—where the fishing boats were docked. I followed instinctively, a little glimmer of hope reigniting in my body. It stopped on a spot where a faint 'X' was drawn in the sand. Dropping to my knees, I began to absentmindedly dig with my hands, not caring if there was a bomb under this X or not.

Something shot out of the sand, tightly gripping my ankle and not letting go. I screamed in surprise, falling backwards, pulling the hand with me. Connected to the hand was an arm, and to that arm a body.

"You saved me, Shori!"

I stared, dumbfounded as a sand covered Tobi brushed himself off in front of me. "W-What the hell are you doing?" I yelled in a squeaky voice.

Standing up, Tobi replied, "Sempai buried me here earlier."

"Why?"

"Because Sempai wants to play a game. He said you'd come to the beach, hoping to fight him, and the creepy rabbit thing would lead you to me. And then I could come out of the hole. You're late, Shori."

"Yeah..sorry," I muttered, one hand on my chin. A game? What did that mean? Tobi continued to speak.

"Well, he said that the game is this—you have to find him. And that's it."

"What?" My brain was having trouble processing this. "What do you mean—what?"

Tobi sighed, his body language slacking. "Sempai says it's like a game of cat and mouse—and for once, you are the cat."

* * *

**Let the games begin!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Have I been keeping you guys waiting too long? ^^; Sorry. My creative juices haven't been flowing that well. An update on Someone Just 4 Me will be coming soon! Also...Tobi seems to be awfully unsettling lately to Shiori...**

* * *

Chapter Six

And So It Begins:  
Cinder Town

* * *

"Tobi, could you _please _stop distracting me? I'm trying to organize this stuff."

"My bad."

After a short shopping trip at a cheap shop, I had more than enough provisions and supplies to help me start off this "game." As I packed, I thought silently to myself why was I doing all of this. Pride? Satisfaction? The _L _word? I had asked that same question to Tobi earlier, and his reply was that it was all three. I sort of agreed. After all, there was no other logical reason save for decaying sanity, but I put that past my mind a while ago.

I put the last of my things into my pack and slung it over both my shoulders. As I was all ready, it was then I realized that I had no idea where to go.

"Where am I going?" I asked myself out loud.

Tobi rummaged around inside of his cloak for a while, before shoving a big rolled up piece of paper in my face. It was ripped in some places (fixed poorly with tape), and smelled like this strange but amazing cologne that Deidara always smelled of. Well I wasn't exactly sure if it was actually cologne, but that kind of scent doesn't naturally occur.

I unraveled the paper; a map of the surrounding land. There were scribbles and circles around different cities and villages, and I assumed these were places where I was supposed to go in this stupid game. At closer inspection, the scribbles appeared to be hints, Really clever, use-of-intelligent-words, hints.

The kind I would never solve in a million years.

"So he's serious, huh," I muttered. "I didn't know he knew these words."

Tobi nodded, tapping his head with one finger. "Sempai is smarter than he looks."

I rolled my eyes. Even so, his blond head was full of nothing but hot air, food and sex.

It was nearing dusk now, and the sky was a mixture of pink and orange. We hadn't gotten that far from Aruzai, and my only focus was the map. The locations were connected together like a treasure map, with a big red 'X' in some unknown location way up north. I swallowed hard at the sight of it. How long would it be until I reached that X? Would anything even be there waiting for me?

Interrupting my thoughts, Tobi pointed to the location next on the trail. "Oh! I've been to that town on a mission once! It's a gangtown."  
"A what?"  
"A gangtown," he repeated. "There's a gang that runs the place."  
My eyes planted themselves on the circle around the town.

_Cinder Town  
An Industrial Town overrun by men,  
To find your next hint, you must look in the Lion's Den._

The last line bothered me. If it was a gangtown, did that mean my "hint" was hidden in their base? Was he trying to get me killed? I glanced over at Tobi, who appeared to be staring at me. An uneasy feeling clogged the air as I held his gaze and I hurriedly looked back at the map, surprised. What was that about?  
"L-let's hurry," I said, finding myself stuttering a bit. I felt a tad intimidated of Tobi's gaze for some odd reason, despite him wearing that swirly orange mask.

Nodding, Tobi continued on in front of me. I followed, still a little uneasy on the inside. It was the same feeling I had gotten when Deidara decided to show me his _true _nature.

How _terrifying _he could be.

I shook the thought from my head and continued to concentrate on the map. As my eyes scanned the page, I wondered if things kept up like this, how I would get through this little "game."

* * *

The forest soon ended and we were on flat even ground; a paved road with nothing but grass on both sides. I had been staring at and counting the powerlines out of sheer boredom—the awkward small talk with Tobi having died a while ago.

We were passing the 50th pole when sharp pain shot through my stomach. I instinctively put a hand over the scar, as if that could be the reason. It had since healed. I had even applied that god awful green gel myself for a while before Hibari-sensei forced me to go to a medical ninja he knew.

That had been over a year ago.

Another jolt of pain sent me to my knees.

Tobi stopped in his tracks and turned. "What's the matter, Shori?" There was no time to correct his thousandth mispronunciation of my name this time. Gritting my teeth, I nodded.  
"I'm fine," I lied. "Fine. Let's keep going,"

The pain subsided just as fast as it had came, and I let out a sigh of relief. But if there was one thing I knew about my body, it was that once I had a pain, it would no doubt be coming back some time down the road.

Soon, giant smokestacks became visible on the horizen, spewing thick black smoke into the air. I had never seen such pollution in person, and the sight began to make me sick. The people of Cinder Town had to breathe that stuff?

How were they still alive?

I turned to Tobi, ready to ask this question when he plainly pointed to his mask,

"What?" I asked, puzzled.

"Masks," he said. "You were about to ask that right, Shori?"  
"Yeah.."  
He continued: "Everyone in the town wears masks or cloths around their faces."  
I nodded. That made perfect sense. Problem was that I had neither of those things. I had been to a festival once, when Ami and Ichiru hadn't been born yet, and my dad had gotten me a fox mask from a vendor. I wouldn't take it off, not even for baths, and I would have never taken it off had Mom not chased me down with a water hose , knocking it off.

It suddenly occurred to me that I never really remembered things from my past on purpose. A lot of it was there in my head, locked away in a safe compartment of my brain. A compartment that I was a little afraid of unlocking.

We steadily closer to the town, each step becoming harder and harder for me under the unbearable sun. The sun's rays soon vanished as we got near the town's entrance.

The smokestacks towered over the town from the center, the smoke blocking the sun entirely. Every few minutes a huge flame would shoot out of them, causing a steady drizzle of ash over the town. Cinder Town.

Everything looked so somber, so sad, so gray. How could anyone willingly live in this place?

I inhaled sharply, not able to hold my breath any longer, breathing in a ton of gray ash. As I stood there hacking, a small figure (most likely a child) approached me. They were wearing a cat mask over their face, and holding a similar, fox, mask in their hands. My eyes watered but I kept them open to see what the child would do next.

"Here," they said, pushing the mask into my stomach. I took it, and the child ran away, disappearing in the mist.

"That was convenient," I croaked as I pulled the mask over my head. The inside smelled overpoweringly of flowers and the eye holes were a bit small, but it would have to do.

I wanted this to be over as soon as possible, so the first thing to do would be to find this "Lion's Den."

* * *

After leaving Tobi to get leads on the gang that supposedly led the place, I had shuffled into a restaurant for any gossip I could pick up. It looked a friendly enough ramen joint on the outside, but, looks can always be deceiving.

It was empty save for a group of rather tough looking men crowded around a back corner, violently slurping up noodles in the grossest fashion possible. The moment I step foot inside, they stopped eating to stare me down.

It was unnerving, but I had been in a lot worse situations so I continued to the bar, making sure not to take my eyes off of them.

I sat on a rickety old stool and adjusted my mask for the hundredth time, paranoid about revealing my face. It hadn't occurred to me until a few minutes prior that maybe revealing my face would be a dumb thing to do, considering I was traveling with an Akatsuki member. It baffled me sometimes at how I could get myself into these kinds of situations.

"—excuse me, miss?"

"Yes!"

It also baffled me at how easy I drifted off.

The frail, sickly looking man in front of me drummed his fingers against the top of the bar. Impatiently, almost.

"I'm sorry what?"

He cleared his throat, a very unpleasant phlegm-ly sound, and asked, "What can I get for you?"

I didn't bother trying to read the menu in the small eye slits of the mask. "Just a bowl of Pork Ramen."  
With a nod he shuffled back into the kitchen, leaving me wondering if it was wise to get food prepared by someone with such a cough. I pushed it to the back of my mind and rested my head in my arms.

The men behind me had resumed their obnoxious slurping; obviously their attention wasn't on me anymore, and for that, I was glad.

My glee didn't last long however, because as soon as the coughing man set my bowl of delicious smelling pork ramen down in front of me, a hand grabbed my ponytail.

It wasn't yanked, just grabbed. Gently, almost.  
Something _he _would do to get my attention.

I didn't turn my head. I didn't react. I simply began eating as if no one was there.

I felt many presences behind me the entire time I ate. Even as I paid. I suppose it got to them, though, and they whirled me around to face them.

None of them were wearing masks, just cloths around their mouths that all bore the same thing—a plain black circle with a smokestack, lined in white. Most of their faces I couldn't make out very well, so I settled on using my ears instead.

Finally, one of them spoke: "Look boys, I think we got ourselves a fresh fish."

I couldn't stop the giggle that came out of me in time.

"I think we should take her to boss," said another from behind me. "It's been a while since we got...visitors."

It was at that precise moment that a hand touched my neck and, on instinct, I kicked a leg out. My leg connected with nothing but air. I tried again, sweeping it around me, catching a few legs and knocking them off their feet.

I was off my feet before they could hit the ground. I assumed it was the man behind me who picked me up and flung me over their shoulder.

"Whoa there, little fox." he said, giving my butt two pats. "Don't get yourself into too much trouble."  
I sighed. May as well do what I did best.

Abandoning any signs of struggle (for now), I became motionless over the thick shoulder of the man holding me. Deidara's hint said my next clue was in the Lion's Den after all.

Let's just see if he was right.


	7. Chapter 7

**Wellll... here's an extremely late update. A very... anticlimactic late update. Haha, don't hate me for this! xD**

* * *

Chapter Seven

Cinder Town:

The Lion's Den

* * *

From what I could see, the punks brought me to a dark room. Nothing but tatami mats lined the floor and masks were hung up along the room. They ranged from animals to faces, and they were all crudely designed. It was quiet, at least as quiet as a place could be with rowdy punks like those running around.

I was used to big, dark rooms, so the panic stage had long since left me. I sighed, long and hard, flopping down on my back. It would be wonderful for my life to not be so hectic. To just settle down in a quiet town—maybe have a kid or two, who knows? That would no doubt be much later in my life. I was already 20 years old! And here I was acting like an old woman.

Suddenly, _he _appeared in my mind. Smirking and smug as always. It was then that I felt the sudden urge to break out into tears.

All I wanted to do was _be with _that perverted lump of space. _I _realized it, though it took me a while. Why couldn't _he _realize it? Why was I on this ridiculous chase for him?

"This is so stupid," I muttered miserably. "So, so, stupid."

The door opened and light filtered into the room, jilting me out of my somber thoughts. One of the punks who kidnapped me beckoned for me to come, and when I didn't, he dragged me up by my ponytail.

Yet another reason to cut all of my hair off.

This particular punk sported a ponytail; the same punk that didn't know the meaning of sexual harassment. He picked me up with one arm, his hands grabby all over my crotch and butt. I cringed, the urge to stab him in the eye growing stronger and stronger by the minute. But, I needed to get Deidara's next clue soon, and that wouldn't happen if I caused any unnecessary trouble.

"Let's go, doll," he said. "The boss wants to see you." _Oh joy. _

Major deja vu hit me as he carried me through the long hallways. Just like that time...Except there was a punk with no respect for personal space carrying me.

Oh wait.

The ponytailed punk dropped me on my feet in front of a pair of sliding doors, not before giving me a goodbye pat on the butt as he left. I didn't wait around—I opened the doors with a slight air of confidence, stepping inside to meet face to face with this "boss." However, sitting on a cushion on top of the tatami-ed floor was the same little kid who had given me a mask earlier. He took his mask off as I came in, and beckoned me to come sit next to him. I obeyed.

"You're the boss around here?" I asked in disbelief. He seemed to be a little younger than the twin monsters!

The little boy shook his head and put his tiny hands on my knees. "The boss is my papa," he said quietly. "He's not here right now. Did papa's friends kidnap you?"

He was adorable. Too adorable to be around this pollution and gang of punks. I didn't get to answer before the boy spoke again. "I'm sorry. Papa's friends kidnap a lot of new people, but they won't hurt you, 'kay?"

"Haha, okay." I nodded, starting to feel a bit more relaxed around him. The boy's big brown eyes searched all around the room before he turned back to me.

"C'mon," he said as he stood up. He reached for my hand. "C'mon!"

"What's wrong?"

The boy tugged my arm straight so he could fit his small hand into my palm. Silently, he led me to the other side of the room and through a different set of doors. I couldn't help but wonder where Tobi was, and if he would be showing up any time soon.

"What's your name?" The little boy asked as we walked.

I bit my lip. Real name? Or alias? Before I could pick an answer, the little boy spoke up once more. "Are you...Takamiya?" he asked. I jumped.

How did this kid know my last name? Apprehensive, I stared down at him. This could very well be some kind of trap—I wouldn't put it past this "boss" to use his kid as a pawn. If it even was his kid.

We stopped at yet another pair of sliding doors. Inside, it was obviously a little kid's bedroom. I stepped over discarded games and toys as the kid led me to his well made up bed. He sat, and patted the spot next to him. "Are you Takamiya?" he asked again. When I didn't answer, he reached up and touched my ponytail. "Takamiya will have a ponytail, he says. A blue one."

The little boy then looked down and placed his hands on my legs, making a tiny "smack" sound.

"And Takamiya will have scars."

I watched him with interest. So far, everything he said was right, and that made my heart pound in excitement. He tugged on my shirt. "Takamiya has a biiig one right here, he says." The boy pointed to the big scar stretching across my stomach.

"Um, little boy," I nearly whispered. "W-who told you all of this?"

A smile stretched across his face. "The man who looks like a girl!" he replied happily. "He said if I did what he said, he'd give me this!" The little boy reached behind his pillow and retrieved a small animal made of clay.

My heart nearly jumped out of my throat. It _had _to be him, there was no other possibility! I was one step closer to finishing this idiotic quest!

"What else did he say-?"

"I'm Kazu," he interrupted. "That's my name. I'm Kazu, Takamiya."

I nodded with a dumb smile plastered to my face. Kazu was too adorable to comprehend, and I wanted to carry him around with me. Everyone needs a daily dose of cute to make it through those rough moments.

Kazu rummaged around behind his pillow again, this time pulling out a slip of paper and handing it to me. "Here," he said. "Give this to Takamiya, he says."

"Who the hell are you?"

The sudden booming voice made us both jump. A man stood at the entrance of Kazu's bedroom, eyes dead set on me. He had a shaved head, and many, _many _tattoos on his exposed arms. Not only that, but his facial features were cold, and hard. How could _that _produce such angelic cuteness as the little boy in front of me.

"What are you doing to my son?"

"I, uh.."

Kazu hopped off of his bed. He approached his father, who hadn't even looked him in the eye yet.

"Papa-" Kazu started, pointing to me. His father pushed him roughly out of the way and marched towards me, hand in his belt. He paused, catching sight of the headband wrapped around my waist. His eyes widened for a split second—surprise? Fear? Uncontrollable rage? Whatever the reason, I didn't intend to stay long enough to find out.

Kazu side stepped in front of his father again, his thin arms outstretched. As if he was trying to protect me.

"Leave her be, papa! She's the Fox Woman! See?"

Fox woman? Kazu's father's eyes narrowed, examining what I assumed to be the mask I was wearing. Suddenly, he bolted from the room, leaving Kazu and I alone. He turned to me, smiling, and I stood up. My face was beginning to sweat under the fox mask but I decided it better to leave it on for the moment.

Everything was strange. Strange because it was oddly easy to get my next clue for this quest. I expected loads and loads of men trying to keep me down! Perhaps maybe a whole gang of highly skilled ninjas waiting to spar with me!

Not an adorable little boy and his weird father. A weird father who is apparently terrified of "fox women." Hopefully I could get some answers out of Kazu.

"Kazu.." I approached him slowly. "What was that all about?"

Kazu put his hand in mine again. "Papa is scared of the Fox Woman," he said, swinging our arms. "Everyone here is, 'cept for me. Oh, and the guy's who brought you here are new, so they don't know about her yet."

"What's the 'Fox Woman?'"

He continued to swing our arms back and forth. "She's a woman who nearly killed Papa and all of his underlings. She's really powerful and strong and killed Papa's brother because he tried to hurt her!"

"Oh." I looked down at him. "You think i'm the Fox Woman?"

Kazu shook his head. "Uh-uh. I just said that so Papa could go away. I don't think he'll leave you though." Suddenly Kazu tugged my arm. "What time is it, Takamiya?"

Before I could say I didn't know, he bolted around me and over to a small clock on the nightstand. Jumping up and down, Kazu said, "Get her out before 4, he says! Has to be 4 or he won't be there, he says!"

My heart began to pound hard in my chest. Did that mean..?

"C'mon!" Kazu took my hand once more and pulled me out of his room and down yet another hall. Men in the halls approached us fast, and I thought that finally I would have to put some of my mediocre combat skills to use.

"Fox Woman!" yelled Kazu, waving his arms in front of him wildly. The men dispersed almost immediately afterwards, shouting like I was breathing fire and had two heads. I smiled to myself. How lucky was I? I also had a small hunch that Kazu gave me the mask earlier for this exact reason.

He led me through several halls, and I marveled at how huge this place was. It didn't take long ofr us to reach the outside though. Kazu pulled on his mask. "Where are we going, Kazu?" I shouted.

"Shh!"

I immediately bit my tongue. Stealth wasn't really my strong point.

We approached a small alleyway; it was a challenge to get myself through. I could hardly see thanks to the small eyeslits of the mask, and I would have gotten lost if it weren't for Kazu. The alley was dark, and the smog in the air was visible above all of the buildings. It blocked the sun, casting deep shadows over everything. We had more sun in the Village Hidden in the Shadows than in Cinder Town. When I thought about it, I realized that it was sunny nearly every day of the year. At least, the bright blue sky was always visible. It was yet another reason a small kid like Kazu didn't need to live in this place. He needed a sunny place with fresh air and blue skies—a place that was anywhere but Cinder Town.

Kazu bent down once we got under a tree ( I had no idea how it even was alive) and pointed up. I looked up into the treetop questioningly, not getting what I was supposed to be seeing.

"Climb up, he says."

Confused, I obeyed, struggling to climb the dark tree. The branches scratched my legs as I went up, and nearly broke under me as I sat. "What now, Kazu?" I called down. "There's nothing up-"

Movement caught my eye. It was above, a dark figure looming over me. I nearly tumbled out of the tree in surprise. I wanted to take the mask off so I could see more clearly, but I didn't want to risk it, what with the air condition and all.

"Kazu...," I went on; alert. We needed to get out of here. With the mask largely obstructing my vision, I was in no condition to fight correctly.

The figure above me shifted, causing leaves to flutter down on top of me. They didn't move and neither did I. That is, until they spoke.

"That's a good look for you, _Fox Woman."_

I stumbled backwards in surprise. Catching myself at the last second I looked back up, dumbfounded at what I had heard.

"D-D—"

"Aw, my name's not that hard to remember, hm? After all, you think about me all the time, don't you? Shiori?"

This didn't make sense. How could he be here when he had been the one to set up this outrageous mission? Nothing added up, and I instantly became skeptical. There was just no way...

Heavy footsteps crunched on the ground towards the tree. I expected one of the men who kidnapped me, but Tobi soon came into view.

"Shori!" he called up. "I have news! Senpai is—"

"There!" Kazu finished, pointing up above me again.

I frowned. "How? I thought I was supposed to go on this elaborate well planned out mission in order to find him!"

Up above came Deidara's voice once more. "Read your next hint, hm."

Snatching it out of my pocket, I held it up close to my face. It was hard to read.

_Game Over. I tricked you!_

_Did you actually think I'd go through all of this trouble?_

_We can settle this, just like you want. _

My hands shook with rage as I looked up into the face of the man who I both extremely loved, and extremely hated.

"Let's do this then," I shouted while trying to not yell every obscenity I knew. Leaning closer, Deidara's face came into view. He wasn't wearing a mask or any other type of face covering. He was leering at me—an expression I was all too used to.

"Ready whenever you are, baby. Show me what you got, hm."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Hello, readers! I have some news to share! If you didn't know, I have a deviantart. And on that deviantart, I recently drew a few "Operation" things. They include: A Silly Romance Meme starring Dei and Shiori (this one got the most reeption); a ninja oc meme starring Shiori, and a picture of Shiori and Kazu holding hands. I'd like it if you checked it out! :D

Warning: Heavy language exchanged between Deidara and Shiori ahead!

* * *

Chapter Eight

Dueling to the Death

Without Dying:

Fights and Relaxation

* * *

I felt the blood rush to my face as Deidara leered at me from overhead. I wasn't blushing out of embarrassment, it was anger. A plethora of rage had began to bubble up inside of me. He had tricked and played around with me _again. _The amount of times I've had to put up with his crap was beginning to put me at my wits end.

I was done being his toy.

"Tomorrow," I said finally, breaking the silence. My voice shook as I talked. "Crack of dawn." Feeling lightheaded, I climbed back onto the ground with shaky legs. I kept my eyes focused on the ground, or at Kazu, who had moved in to grab my hand again. There was a soft "thump" as Deidara jumped down from the tree. I tensed up as he brushed passed me, willing my eyes to go to the back of his head as he did so.

"I figured you'd say that, hm," Deidara said, still facing forward. "I know the _perfect _place." Suddenly he stopped walking, and turned to face me. Acting on instinct I backed up a few feet. He closed the gap in no time at all.

"A place where you can relax. You're going to need it after all, hm." The way he said it, so teasing and sarcastic, ticked me off but a day of relaxation sounded wonderful.

I opened my mouth a few times to try and talk, but no sound came out. Luckily the mask blocked off the fish-like movements of my mouth from everyone. "Where is this place?" I asked.

"Not in this awful place," Deidara snapped, turning back around.

"Oh."

I looked down at Kazu. He was looking ahead at Deidara and swinging our arms back and forth.

I would have to part with the lump of cuteness soon, and the thought gave me chest pains. Sure, I had only known Kazu for about an hour, but I had already grown attached to him. He was kind of like a puppy at the pet shop—once you picked him up, you didn't want to let him go.

"I guess this is goodbye, Kazu." I bent down so I was eye level with him. "I guess I have to leave now. But thank you for helping me! I appreciate it." I moved in to hug him. His small hands patted my back. More chest pains.

Being so keen on Kazu made me feel as if I was cheating on my own little twin monsters, and I began to feel bad. Kazu was no doubt younger than them, which upped his cute factor by 10 fold.

"Good luck, Takamiya," Kazu said. "Bye-bye!"

Before I could grab him and put him in my pocket, Kazu had turned and bounded off back towards the "Lion's Den." His reddish-brown head bobbed out of sight into the heavily visible air.

Something harshly hit my butt. I turned around, the front of my mask coming into contact with Deidara's chest.

"What?" I asked, making no effort to hide the irritation in my voice. His smack left behind a stinging sensation on my rear end.

Deidara hit me again. "Hurry up, hm. If you want to have enough time to relax, we need to get a move on."

My irritation grew a few levels as he turned his back to me. I wanted, for some reason, to drop kick him in the back. It confused me how much hostility I was feeling towards Deidara, yet I still wanted to run and wrap my arms around him, and never let go. I reluctantly followed Deidara and Tobi, walking as slow as possible yet fast enough to keep up pace.

None of us spoke as we walked through the sad, quiet town. I found I had nothing to say at the moment. At least, nothing that wasn't a million questions to ask Deidara, and a bunch more to ask Tobi why he was being so creepy lately.

We neared a path, different from the one Tobi and I took to get to Cinder Town. The sight of the blue sky nearly made me jump with joy. Finally I could take the stuffy mask off!

Suddenly, Deidara spoke. "I planted bombs in that hideout, hm."

I ran around in front of him, failing to look intimidating due to our height difference.

"WHAT?" I shoved him; he stayed planted in his pot. "Kazu is probably in there, you asshole!"

I felt the blood rise to my face again—this was why I hated Deidara sometimes. He grabbed the front of my shirt, pulling me up so our faces nearly touched.

"That den full of idiots had me at my wits end, hm. They need to be put. In. Their. Place. Just like you, hm!"

"There's a little KID inside!" I yelled.

Deidara shrugged. "Collateral damage, hm."

I struggled free from him and pushed past, running as fast as I could towards the Den. It was extremely hard to see, and I could hardly find my way, but the eardrum-shattering explosion clued me in to where it may be. Shocked civilians poured out of their homes to investigate, soon becoming huge obstacles in the streets. I did the best I could, dodging them, but my limited vision meant a few shoved or knocked over people.

The entrance to the Den was untouched, but heavy smoke poured from the sliding doors as fire raged inside. It definitely wasn't one of Deidara's strongest bombs—the place was still intact. I put my memory to good use and mentally retraced every step I made with Kazu earlier.

The panicked punks rushed out of various rooms and doors, carrying what I assumed to be personal belongings, nearly mowing me down in the process. I pushed and shoved, trying to get to Kazu's room as the heat grew more intense. I burst through the flimsy paper doors and was met face to face with flames. It seemed the source of the blast was inside Kazu's room, as everything was blasted and torn apart.

_The small clay animal._

"AUGH, I am going to MURDER him!"

I squinted through the flames and smoke, trying to find a body. I hoped it wouldn't be a dead one. All hope seemed lost, until I stepped on something soft. Kazu's tiny left hand. Instantly panicking, I bent down to scoop him up. Kazu was extremely light. He felt like he weighed next to nothing; I could probably lift him with one arm.

"Kazu!"

I shook him gently, getting no response.

"Kazu, wake—" I stopped mid-sentence, noticing the burns on his legs and feet. They weren't 3rd degree, and I was glad for that, but they were still nothing to be taken lightly. I assumed Kazu hadn't been in the room when the bomb went off—he may have been much worse off, or even dead.

If he wasn't dead already.

Kazu was limp in my arms. I had almost forgotten I was inside a burning building, had it not been for the flame that caught my ponytail. I didn't worry about it much—after all, hair always grew back. The lives of cute little children didn't.

But, I decided it would be wise to high tail it out of there, so I crossed over to another pair of sliding doors. On the way, I stepped on another soft object. It wasn't another body, thank goodness, but a plush toy. I picked up the cat stuffed animal and exited the burning room as quickly as I could.

Kazu's estranged father was nice enough to greet me. "You!" he spat, pointing a finger at me. "You wretched Fox Woman! You're the cause of all this!" He took a few steps closer to me, blood lust flashing in his eyes. I though Kazu said he was _afraid _of the "Fox Woman?"

"What have you done to him?" he shouted, pointing to Kazu's limp body. I instinctively hugged him closer to me. I didn't _like _Kazu's father. He seemed to be a complete jerk, and I had a feeling I hadn't seen the worst of it.

Up above, the wooden beams supporting the back of the Den began to groan as the flames licked at them. They were catching fire quickly, and would no doubt collapse in a matter of minutes.

"Get away from there!" I warned Kazu's father, backing away a safe distance. He followed me, sweating, as if he didn't know whether or not to.

"You wretched woman!" Said Kazu's father, continuing his rant. "How dare you think you can come back here and do more damage-"

"Move!" I shouted, bouncing on my heels as the support beams groaned louder. I had no time for this—Kazu could have very well still been alive and slipping away as I stood there trying to reason with his crazy father.

"Who cares about that!" I attempted to shout over the roar of the failing beams. "Your son could be dead, and that's all you can talk about?"

Kazu's father made a "tch" sound. "Oh, who gives a damn. The little bastard isn't even mine. His damned mother dumped him off on me when she decided to run away and become _famous. _We have no relation!"

Without thinking, I started to march over, my intentions being to punch him in the face.

One final groan, and the beams had had enough. I jumped back into the high branches of a nearby tree as one fell forward, bringing a large portion of the roof down on it. There was a deafening crash as wood toppled down onto more wood. Splinters rained down on me as I leaped down onto solid ground. Where Kazu's father once stood lay piece upon piece of heavy wood—a noticeable splatter of blood on the ones at the very bottom.

Despite his unfortunate demise, I had little to no sympathy for Kazu's father. Instead I put my focus on getting out of Cinder Town.

And hopefully I wouldn't be carrying a dead body.

* * *

Deidara looked surprised when I returned, carrying Kazu and a cat plush toy. He watched with interest as I went to my "shake, please be awake" method.

When it proved unsuccessful, I lifted my mask a bit, just enough for me to be able to perform CPR. There was no reason for an innocent child to be killed for no reason. Even if he was "collateral damage."

Having never actually performed CPR on an actual person before, I wasn't sure it would work. I tried my best, though, and after a few minutes, a tiny cough came out of Kazu's mouth.

Soon he was coughing and sputtering and gasping for air—a sound I was so happy to hear. Kazu almost immediately reached for his discarded mask and shoved it back onto his face, in a panic it seemed.

"Kazu," I said, trying to pry it away. "You don't need a mask out here. The air is fine!"

He shook his head and looked around at the three of us standing around him. He was shaking terribly, and a pain sprouted in my chest. Facing Deidara face-to-mask, I put a finger in his face.

"You asshole!" I definitely needed a giant reboot in my insults. "You nearly killed him with your—your-stupid art!"

I figured insulting his art would set of Deidara's berserk button, and when he grabbed me roughly by the collar, I knew I had pressed it hard.

"No fighting!" Intercepted Tobi, coming between the two of us. "Not until tomorrow, anyway."

I spit, aiming for Deidara's face. The mask I was wearing, however, prevented it from going anywhere but back at my own face. My memory was fantastic, yet I couldn't remember I was wearing a mask.

Deidara's visible eye narrowed at me for a moment, unblinking.

"Fine," he grunted, letting me go. "I'm _sorry _for nearly killing the brat, hm."

"The hell you are!" I retorted angrily.

"What do you want me to do, hm?" Deidara's voice rose. "I apologized!"

I got in his face again. " I don't believe you! You probably aren't sorry, you sick bastard!"

I expected a childish response, and I got one. Deidara used his foot, planting it on my stomach to push me down roughly.

"Fucker!" I yelled after him as he stormed away.

What a wonderful start this was coming to. Well, it was true that I fought better when I was angry, but I also slept horribly. I mulled over my dilemma silently as I bent down to tend to Kazu.

He was quivering still, and soft cries came from behind his mask. He was holding it up because the string had snapped at some point during the explosion.

"It's okay!" I said, trying my best to sound calm and reassuring. "Really, it is. You're just a little burned, but you'll be alright. You can take your mask off."

I reached for it, but this only made Kazu cry louder. Flinching, I moved away.

"I'm sorry, Kazu, I—"

A rock soared through the air and connected with my head, leaving a dull pain behind.

"_Hurry the fuck up, hm!"_

More rage burst out of my mouth. "Shut the fuck up, and...suck my dick!"

It sounded insulting in my head, but actually coming out of my mouth I sounded like an idiot. I didn't even _have _a dick. Deidara's laughter reached my ears soon after I said it, and I pouted, embarassed.

"Come on, Kazu." I held my arms out. "I guess you'll be coming with me."

Kazu reached up with one shaky arm, and I lifted him into my arms with ease. With the cat toy in my other hand, I began to walk. I attempted again to convince Kazu to remove his mask.

"You know, the air out here is perfectly fine," I coaxed. "See?"

I pushed the fox mask up and sideways, revealing my face. I realized that it was the first time Kazu had seen my face. Hesitating, he slowly brought the cat mask down from over his face. He squinted immediately as he did so, and buried his face in my neck.

_It should have been illegal to be that adorable._

"You don't mind coming with me, do you Kazu?" I asked, breathing in as much fresh air as I could.

Kazu shook his head. His tears were dripping down my neck and onto my shirt. I sighed, trying to catch up to Deidara and Tobi. Sure, I had two younger siblings, but that didn't mean I knew what I was doing.

* * *

"Why do you have him with you, hm?" asked Deidara.

Kazu had fallen asleep finally, and was clinging to my neck like a baby spider monkey. "Well," I stated matter-of-factly. "He's an orphan thanks to you. What did you want me to do with him? Leave him there? It's _your _fault that he has these burns too."

Regarding Kazu's burns, I had wrapped them in bandages but a few minutes earlier. I assured him that he _would _be able to walk again, and panicking wouldn't be necessary.

Deidara made an annoyed grunting sound and looked straight ahead.

"Are we close?" I asked impatiently.

There was no time for Deidara to answer me. A rather large building came into view almost immediately—we weren't even in the next town over yet. It peaked out from all of the other buildings, a shiny, sleek tower that reflected the sky in its windows. I grew excited just thinking about how fun and "relaxing" this was going to be. I walked ahead of Deidara and Tobi, eager to get inside.

There was a soft tug on my ponytail. "Your hair is burned, hm."

Deidara held open a palm full of singed hairs as proof. The wind blew them away. I shrugged.

"Hair grows back," I said flatly. "It's no big deal."

"That's what you think."

With a few exasperated sighs and closed eyes, we make it inside the town with little to no altercations. Deidara and Tobi have since ditched their cloaks, and they were nowhere to be seen. I half expected them to be in a different dimension or something.

The "place of relaxation" was simply called 'Hotel Twintrees,' and was honestly not that huge as it appeared to be. It didn't bother me none though, after all, the only thing that mattered was getting a good night's sleep.

The inside of the hotel was just like the outside—sleek and new, with noting out of place. I had never been in an extravagant hotel before, and all of what I had heard about them made me perk up in excitement. It was too bad I had to spend it with a traumatized child and two stupid criminals. I crossed over to one of the chairs in the lobby and sat, not bothering to pay attention to how exactly this was being paid for. Dirty money, no doubt.

Kazu began to stir, loosening his chokehold on me. He looked around wildly, like he didn't know what was going on, and then finally his reddish-brown eyes landed on my face (the mask, actually).

He had started to shake again, much to my dismay, and I wished as hard as I could that he wouldn't start to cry.

"Come on," called Deidara from across the lobby. I scurried after him, exhaustion beginning to show its ugly face.

Three flights of stairs later at the end of the hall, we stopped at two rooms parallel to each other.

"The brat is in that room with Tobi, hm."

I made a face, despite no one being able to see it. "Yeah right. No offense, Tobi."

He put both hands up. "None taken, Shori."

Kazu's hold on my neck tightened. "No way," I said. "He's staying with me. Kazu's already been through a lot, and besides—_I _need to take care of his burns."

Deidara looked irritated, and I took that as a personal triumph. There was nothing I wanted more than to annoy him for the rest of the day. But on the downside, that would probably make him more hostile towards me when we sparred.

But he wouldn't _actually _try to kill me, would he? I wondered this as he opened the door closest to himself with a small 'click.' The inside of the room had a white and tan color scheme: two white beds, tan carpet, tan headboards, and tan walls. It looked plain and simple—I liked it!

Trying to set Kazu down proved to be a difficult task. As soon as I tried, his vicelike grip on my neck tightened.

"It's fine, really!" I said miserably. I needed to go over my life choices and rework the whole "maybe i'll have kids someday" thing.

Kazu buried his head in my neck again, refusing to let go.

"_Kazu..."_

It was obvious nothing would work, so I decided to give up for the moment.

Feeling helpless, I turned to Deidara, who was leaning against the tv watching me. Arms folded and feet slightly crossed at the ankles, his visible eye was locked in on my head.

"What are you looking at?" I said, backing away.

He stayed silent.

I rolled my eyes and tried once again to pry Kazu off of my neck. After much tugging and pulling, he let go, and I set him, flailing, down onto the bed on the left. A pitiful sounding whimper came out of his mouth.

_So cute._

"Deidara." I faced him. "I think it would be better if you shared the other room with Tobi."

This got a reaction. "No, hm."

"Why not? You're partners, aren't you? Besides, you're a pervert, and Kazu needs me right now."

Deidara scoffed. "You're his mother now?"

I didn't know why, but this angered me. Maybe because it was HIS fault Kazu was even with us.

"Look buddy." I advanced on him, poking him in the chest with my index finger. It nearly snapped. "It's not my fault. Last time I checked, _your _retarded bombs are the cause of this. You can't just go blowing up people who annoy you!"

Deidara stopped leaning on the tv and stood up straight. His noticeable height advantage automatically gave him the upper hand. "Last time I checked, I _could, _hm."

Nothing came out of my mouth but awkward sputters and noises as I tried to whip up a comeback that would do some damage. Nothing worked.

The pout plastered to my face behind my mask soon turned to a pitiful, near-tears expression. I was glad that no one could see it. The reality of the situation reared its ugly head, and I wondered why I was even here in the first place. It'd be better for me if I was at home, doing missions every once in a while. Then i'd grow old and die a lonely, bitter toad.

The possibility of that gave the tears that little extra push they needed to start pouring out my eyes.

I wasn't making any noise, but somehow, Deidara knew I was crying. He pulled me into the bathroom and shut the door. With one quick movement of his hand, the mask was on the countertop, and my ugly crying face was revealed to the world.

"What? You gonna laugh at me?" I wailed. "Go ahead!"

Deidara's blond head tilted to the side. "You're so ugly when you cry, hm."

I narrowed my eyes at him. The mood had done a complete 360 when I started to cry. Maybe I could use tears to my advantage in the future..

Slowly, Deidara whirled me around to look at myself in the mirror. He removed my ponytail holder and dropped in on the counter, sweeping what was left of my singed hair over my shoulder.

My arms were covered in dark spots and I smelled like a chimney. If I were Deidara, I didn't see how I could be around myself in such close quarters.

"You stink, hm," he said, resting his chin on the top of my head. I was tempted to give him an elbow jab to the stomach, but I highly doubted it'd do much damage.

"I'm aware of this," I replied bitterly.

"Take a bath."

"I will."

"With me, hm."

"No thank you." I had stopped crying by then. I figured it was a part of Deidara's plan to make me stop anyway by being perverted. I honestly found I didn't mind. It gave us something to argue about, and our banter was what cheered me up when I felt down.

Deidara chuckled before saying, "Well, I just want to let you know that tomorrow I won't hold back, hm."

"I'd be offended if you did."

I knew he was underestimating me, and I didn't blame him. Like it was possible for someone like me to do even mild damage to someone like Deidara. Maybe in dreams it could happen. "We'll see what happens, won't we, hm?"

Nodding, I sidestepped out of his grip. "Remember," I said, waving a finger at him. "No bombs allowed. Fair fight."

He waved his hand at me, signaling he knew already, and pulled me closer again. "I can fix your hair for you," he cooed into my ear.

"Sure you can." I rolled my eyes. "You woman."

He poked me sharply in my sides, which ended up tickling more than hurting me. I started to snort like a pig as I was laughing, egging Deidara on.

"Stop!" I whispered, near tears. "I'm serious!"

Deidara tickled me harder, and I laughed harder. So hard I couldn't breathe and when I did inhale sharply, I snorted.

After a few minutes I was released from my torture and lifted onto the bathroom countertop. Deidara exited the bathroom and came back with a pair of small scissors. It was painfully difficult to resist making a feminine joke. "Those yours?" I asked.

"Mm."

I giggled.

"Oh shut up, hm."

As Deidara cut away at my hair, I began a feeble attempt to start small talk. Every time though, it faded into awkward silence.

Finally he said something. "Were you serious about earlier, hm?"

I shrugged. "I 'unno. What are you talking about?"

"I think you said, 'Shut the fuck up and suck my dick,'hm?" Laughter was evident in his voice.

Groaning, I put my palm on my forehead.

He continued. "I don't remember you having a dick, hm. Did you grow one recently?"

A giggle-snort. "No!" I said. "I just said it, I don't know why."

Deidara tilted my head to the left and continued to snip away. "I have a good idea, hm," he said.

"What?"

With his mouth close to my ear he whispered, "I'd rather you suck mine instead, hm."

"EW!" I shouted like a little kid who was finding out how babies were made. My reaction made him laugh.

"No thanks, blondie," I said. "The only thing going in my mouth is food. And _that _is not food."

Deidara dropped the scissors on the sink. "Done."

I turned to look at my hair. Nothing was different, save for an inch or so missing from the bottom. Muttering a halfhearted "Thanks", I jumped down from the counter and headed for the bathroom door.

Deidara held the door closed with one hand.

"Listen," he said quietly, invading every inch of my personal space. "I'll leave you alone for today, hm. But tomorrow you won't be able to stop me from coming in here, Shiori. _And staying, hm."_

Rolling my eyes, I looked up at him with an incredulous expression. "Oh really?"

Deidara leaned much closer, completely annihilating any speck of personal space I had left.

"Oh the things I will do to you," he whispered, his voice heavy with lust. "On the battlefield, _and off, hm."_

He left me, red faced and alone, in the bathroom.

* * *

A/N: Okay, I was thinking about maybe upping the rating on this story. Mainly for language, and a little bit of _other _things. (Not too descriptive _other things_, mind you xD ).


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Hello! Mild warning for this chapter (language, certain conversation topics, non descriptive short scene of awkward oral sex, etc).

Here's another important warning!

The end of this chapter (where stuff happens) is horribly written! lol

So horribly written i am VERY EMBARRASSED TO EVEN PUT IT UP. D: SJAHFDKS

* * *

Chapter Nine:

Dueling to the Death Without Dying:

No Sleep for Me

* * *

The indoor hot springs inside the hotel was completely empty save for Kazu and I. It was a little after midnight, and the gigantic windows on the ceiling filtered the moonlight down onto the water. It was perfect. Perfectly quiet; Perfectly devoid of any blonde males; Perfectly perfect. The only thing not-so-perfect was Kazu's constant asking of the same question every five minutes.

"Takamiya," Kazu said, tugging on my hair. Even though he was right in front of me, he still felt the need to use body contact to get my attention.

"Yes?" I leaned back, reclining on the edge. Kazu shifted uncomfortably where he was sitting on the floor. He had never been in a hot springs before, and the temperature of the water made him shriek in horror when it touched his burned legs. I could tell though, that he wanted to be inside of the water anyway.

"Takamiya, are you my new mama?" he asked, for the fiftieth time. I suppose I couldn't blame him though, every time he asked I didn't really answer.

Sighing, I replied, "No Kazu, i'm not. But I can take care of you if you want." The proposal sounded _much _more like a favor than a potentially life-altering commitment. For a split second, I regretted saying it. I pushed the thought way back into the recesses of my mind where it couldn't be found easily, and sank lower into the green-tinted water. Kazu fidgeted again.

"Do you want to come in?" I reached out for him with both arms outstretched. Kazu leaned over

as much as he could towards me. In the process, his towel slipped off into the water.

A high pitched squeal came out of his mouth, and the vice-like grip on my neck returned. I found his modesty to be cute. Little kids usually didn't care if they were seen naked.

"Ha, how old are you Kazu?" I asked him.

Kazu held up five fingers.

I smiled and hugged him closer to me. "You're so cute I want to keep you forever."

There was a splashing sound as Kazu's legs met the water. Almost immediately he began to scream, the noise echoing painfully throughout the empty room. I covered his mouth with the palm of my hand to stifle the noise. If anyone were to walk in, they would probably think I was getting ready to drown him or something.

When Kazu finally calmed down, I moved my hand from over his mouth.

"You have to be quiet in here," I whispered, looking around. "It's late, and we might get kicked out."

Nodding, Kazu shakily stood, his feet planted on my knees and his hands clenching my shoulders. I didn't realize how small he was. Small things made me nervous.

We spent a nice amount of time talking about random things ranging from what kind of masks Kazu liked, to favorite foods. I wasn't prepared though for his next question.

"Takamiya, why don't you look like me?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

He moved to a sitting position, and the water nearly went past his chin. "These aren't the same," he said, poking my breasts with his small fingers.

Immediately, I recoiled, nearly knocking him into the water. "Kazu you can't uh, touch those," I said, beginning to laugh. "Well, they're like that because i'm a girl. Girls and boys are different."

Kazu nodded as if he understood. I sincerely hoped he did, because it'd save me any future awkward explanations.

* * *

After a million questions and two bowls of fried rice later, Kazu was asleep and I was staring restlessly at the ceiling. I hadn't seen or come into contact with either Deidara or Tobi, and I planned to keep it that way. The only real problem I faced was not being able to fall asleep. All of the lights were off in the hotel room and the television, on low volume, cast a blue light throughout the room. Usually falling asleep in that atmosphere was a piece of cake, and i'd be asleep in minutes.

I rolled to the left, and again to the right, but still I lay wide awake. If I didn't get any sleep soon, I would be in no shape for sparring with Deidara later on.

Abandoning hope, I closed my eyes and hoped that maybe lying there would help eventually. It seemed to be working after about 10 minutes as I felt drowsier and drowsier as more time passed.

_Finally._

The room door opened with its distinct 'click' noise, waking me back up. Wide awake and annoyed, I angrily turned my head to see who had came in (as if it wasn't already obvious who it was). The bed sheets rustled as a second body slid next to me, putting an arm around my waist.

"I figured you wouldn't be able to sleep, hm," said Deidara into my ear. I sighed loudly and tried to move away from him.

"I was just fine until you came in here, you bed intruder. Get out!"

Deidara moved even closer to me. "Ah-ah-ah. You don't wanna wake the brat, do you?"

As he said that Kazu stirred in the bed next to mine.

"Get out!" I whispered harshly. "If this is all just a plan to—"

Deidara's creepy mouth-hands moved their way up my shirt, coming at a complete stop at my bra. I felt my face flush. _This again._

It was obviously a clever plot to seduce me so I wouldn't be up to standards for our fight. Clever, but I was determined not to fall for it. "Deidara, stop."

"_No."_

"So you're gonna force yourself on me, then? I can defend myself, you know."

He scoffed from behind me. "I have every intention of this being consensual, hm."

Did he know what 'consensual' meant? It sure as hell didn't mean 'one unwilling partner.'

I tried once more to wriggle free of his grasp. I didn't need the distraction of whatever Deidara was planning to do. Even _if _I hadn't seen him in over a year. There was no doubt in my mind that he had practically _drowned _himself in whores the whole time anyway.

As I thought about that, the familiar insecurities I had about my overall appearance. It was something I tried to ignore, but having feelings for someone like Deidara set my insecure level on high.

"What are you thinking about, hm?"

I stayed quiet. Maybe if I feigned sleep he would take the hint and leave me alone. Or, if I recalled correctly, he'd molest me in my sleep like he'd done before. Deidara was a lost cause. I _really _needed to sit and review my life choices one day. Maybe I could write an autobiography and make a fortune teaching people not to make the same mistakes I had.

Feeling Deidara move to lean over me, I shut my eyes tight and stayed stiff as a board. I was hoping this would work, but there was a nagging feeling in my head that it wouldn't.

Softly and quietly, he said, "Shiori..?"

His hair tickled my face and the wonderful scent of whatever cologne he used began to make me want to immediately "wake up." He chuckled, planting a kiss on my forehead.

Something twitched in my face, an involuntary reaction, and the way Deidara chuckled again told me that he noticed.

A second kiss, this time on my cheek. The third one, my neck. What felt like a jolt of electricity shot through my body. I thought he'd do it again—I _wanted _him to do it again, and I waited for it eagerly. Seconds passed, and all Deidara did was hover above me.

Then, he stabbed me sharply in the sides with his fingers. I flinched horribly and yelped, cringing afterwards. If I woke up Kazu, it'd be no easy task getting him to go back to sleep.

"You're an ass," I said, rolling over to face the wall. Deidara mimicked my position, blocking my view of the plain wall paint and instead giving me one of an attractive face.

"I'm staying in here with you, hm," he said, leaning up to remove his shirt. After tossing it on the carpeted floor, he started work on his pants. I put my hands up to stop him.

"What are you doing?"

Kazu stirred again. I held my breath until he stopped moving.

Deidara discarded his pants in the same spot as his shirt. "Sleeping in that would be uncomfortable, hm."

Rolling my eyes, I flopped back down onto my pillow.

"You could at least wear pajamas," I said, pointing to my own set. "You don't see me sleeping in my underwear."

Pulling the sheets up to his nose, Deidara replied, "You slept naked when we had sex, hm."

I nearly yelled again. Correcting myself, I retorted quietly: "That doesn't count, you pervert!"

"I think it does."

"It doesn't."

He sighed and patted my shoulder. "I had forgotten how much of a child you are, hm."

_I _had forgotten how easily Deidara could get me riled up. I closed my eyes again to attempt sleep. But I think we both knew I would hardly be getting any.

After a couple minutes of silence I was sure that Deidara would finally let me be. Either that, or he had fallen asleep first. Opening my eyes, I was met with the intense stare of both of Deidara's, as his bangs had fallen out of his face.

"What are you looking at?" I asked, mildly uncomfortable.

He didn't reply right away, instead moving closer to me and pulling me towards the middle of the bed. "I missed you Shiori, hm," he said.

"I missed you too I guess," I muttered quietly. Deidara laughed, and my face flushed in embarrassment.

"And, I wanted to hurt you so bad after you left that note, hm."

I raised an eyebrow. "_How bad?"_

"Near death maybe, hm?

"Ugh," I said. "You're such a psycho. Why do I even like you?"

It was an actual question that I asked myself almost on a daily basis. It would definitely make it into my autobiography. Maybe I had Stockholm Syndrome.

I decided this an appropriate time for a small rant. "I mean," I continued. "You _kidnapped _me, put me in a dark room, put a _collar _on me, and dragged me around like a dog! Then, you constantly toy with my emotions, and I can never tell what you're thinking half the time. You're abusive, both emotionally and physically, you flirt with other girls, you're a bastard, and I think you're a little bit cracked in the mind. Not to mention—"

Deidara interrupted me, the soft light of the tv illuminating his annoyed expression.

"While we're pointing out flaws, let's name some of yours, hm. You're annoying, you care too much about others, you're a nag, you have split ends everywhere—as well as scars 'cause you're so damn clumsy, you do retarded shit like stab yourself with a knife for no reason, you're weak and frail—"

he paused, running a hand over my hips. "—I guess you're not as skinny as a war refugee anymore, hm."

My cheeks puffed out in anger, and I silently stared through Deidara as if he wasn't there. The split second I actually did look at him, I noticed how his annoyed expression had softened a bit.

"But even so," he sighed and rolled his eyes. "If I really hated you as much as I said I do, you wouldn't even be here right now, hm."

"Gee. That makes me feel _so much better._"

He stabbed me in the sides again. "I could do without your sarcastic ass remarks too, hm."

"Sarcasm is my defense mechanism," I muttered. "I wasn't that sarcastic until _you _came along."

The annoyed expression returned to Deidara's face. He said with a frown: "Well it's obvious that i'm no good for you, hm."

I didn't know what to say to that. All I could do was stare at the suddenly fascinating wall once again. Anywhere but at Deidara's face. He nudged my face with his own, resembling a cat that wanted to play. This kept up until I sneezed from all of his hair tickling my face.

"Quit it!" I tried to push him away but he only continued his cat-like behavior, climbing on top of me and pulling the covers over both of us.

Suddenly, I felt extremely claustrophobic. It didn't help that I was being pinned down. "Get off of me," I whispered, trying to sound aggressive. It probably didn't work, seeing as all Deidara did was lower himself ontop of me rather than just hovering.

His soft, silky hair hung in my face, and I smelled the familiar peach-scented shampoo he used. With so much to go on, who could blame anyone for making woman jokes about Deidara? After all, he had nicer hair than most girls I knew, under his cloak he wore a cut off shirt that exposed his midriff, he was a very good cook, and it appeared that he wore eye makeup—it was too easy to make jokes!

"What are you thinking about?" Deidara asked, stopping my train of thought. I shrugged, not wanting to annoy him any further. It'd only be more of a hassle.

"Nothing," I replied. "I'm trying to go to sleep."

"Well you can't, hm."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course I can't."

I wanted Deidara to leave, not only so I could get sleep, but so my hormones wouldn't start to go crazy. I was starting to lose the battle, and I believed Deidara knew that. Some of the things he did made me wonder if he was a mind-reader. But it was pretty obvious that I was just easy to read.

Looking up at Deidara, I took note of the look in his eyes. That particular "look" worried me and got my heart to start hammering inside my chest. "Deidara, please," I said, closing my eyes.

Completely misunderstanding my plea, he began to give me what I assumed to be a hickey.

It tickled, and much to my dismay I began to laugh, rather than tell him what I really meant.

"Deidara—" I started, putting a hand over my mouth. I continued to laugh, just deciding to abandon hope and let him keep at it. After all, it was just a kiss mark.

Nothing more, nothing less.

It was all fine and dandy until Deidara hit that "spot." The "spot" he had discovered a long time ago. The "spot" that I would have never known existed if it wasn't for him and his wandering mouth.

Slowly, Deidara leaned up to stare at me, making this already uncomfortable situation even worse.

"What's the matter, hm? You said 'please.'"

I scoffed. "Yeah. But I meant 'please leave.' I knew you wouldn't get it."

Deidara's eyebrow twitched. "Too late," he said, rolling off of me. "You got me started, I plan to finish, hm."

"Why don't you just go back to the other room and wank off or something!"

My voice rose in volume and Kazu stirred once again at the sound. Holding my breath until he stopped, I rolled over to face my bed intruder. He had pulled the sheets back up to his nose again, flashing his bedroom eyes at me.

"I don't do that often, hm," he said, answering my question. "It's not as pleasurable as you think."

Curious, I asked, "Why?"

Deidara put his palm in my face. The tongue licked my nose. "They bite, hm!"

"Shh!" I pushed a finger up to his mouth. "If you wake Kazu, i'll kick you."

"Ooo, I like them violent, hm."

Everything I said could be turned into something perverted by Deidara, so the only sane thing to do would be to simply stop talking. Only it wasn't that easy.

Deidara dragged me closer to him again. I didn't make any attempts to get away, opting to instead enjoy his body warmth. My mind was beginning to relax, letting down its barriers that I so often struggled to hold up.

I hadn't seen Deidara in over a year, yet when I was finally with him, I acted like I could care less if he was even alive. Sure, there were tons of qualities he had that I hated with a passion, but sometimes it was nice to ignore them.

I'd never get used to his libido, though. Never. That was just who I was. Awkward and clueless about sex since the day I hit puberty. I was likely to be that way until I was old and gray.

"How about you,hm?" asked Deidara, looking at his nails.

Shaking my head, I laughed. "I never even think about it, honestly. I just...deal I guess."

Immediately, Deidara replied, "That's so weird."

I rolled my eyes. I was suddenly reminded of my mother, when I was about 15, telling me about having "alone time" with yourself and how it was perfectly natural, and she'd preferred if I did that rather than going out an being with guys like Yomi. I was too embarrassed, and never even tried it. What was the point now, though? I had already had sex three times (one unwillingly), so it didn't matter if I even thought about it, right?

"Whatever, blondie."

The heat radiating off of Deidara began to relax me, and I became hopeful that I could finally get some sleep.

Once again though, I was fully awaken by Deidara, touching me someplace. His hands roamed all over my stomach and back, coming to a rest on my butt.

"You're skin is so soft, hm," he said into my hair.

I cringed. "And your hands are rough. Don't touch me!" Despite me saying this, it felt like deep down, I didn't want him to stop. I ignored the feeling and tried to lean up.

"Let go," I said, struggling. "I'm sleeping with Kazu. You're too distracting."

Making an annoyed grunting sound, Deidara pulled me back down onto the bed. "I'm getting annoyed, hm."

"I noticed."

He frowned. "An entire year, Shiori, hm. And to think I didn't get any whores the _whole _time. Maybe I should have, hm."

Mixed feelings of jealousy and insecurities bubbled up inside of me, threatening to burst out in the form of shouting and punches. Neither were good choices in the same room of a sleeping 5 year old.

I flopped back down onto the fluffy pillow and turned to face in the opposite direction, getting a clear view of Kazu and the lamp on the nightstand in between the beds. For a minute I believed that Deidara would get up and leave in a huff, but I could feel him staring at the back of my head. He was the type to not listen to a word someone said if it wasn't what they liked, so I honestly wasn't surprised when he got close to me again.

I could tell that he was all pouty, and I honestly didn't care. I didn't care when he kissed the back of my neck, nor did I care when he grinded into my backside.

_Just ignore the problem, and it will go away._

I _especially _didn't care about the tingling sensation in my lower regions, _or _the overwhelming urge to turn around and kiss him. No sirree.

Deidara's touches sent me into a frenzy—a frenzy I was having mixed feelings about. I didn't know how to react, despite not being a virgin, and the feelings I got _still _scared me. How could I be that pathetic? It was sad.

I flinched repeatedly or cringed away from him every time his fingers touched my skin, but for once I didn't outright protest.

"You're so cute,hm," Deidara said into my ear. I shivered.

"Whatever you're gonna do, just hurry up," I muttered, my face burning up. "It's 2 am, I want to go to bed."

He chuckled. "I won't do much baby, hm—" he paused, his voice getting both softer and deeper. "—Just touching you is enough sometime."

A strange noise resembling a pig getting its tail ripped off came out of my mouth, caused by a mixture of embarrassment and the proper reaction to hands trying to unhook your bra.

"No, don't take it off," I said, my voice a high pitched whisper. "Please, don't."

"Why not?"

His voice sounded gentle almost, the tone one would take when talking to a puppy, or a little kid who won't stop crying. _How insulting. _I brought my elbow back into his stomach, which only made him laugh. "You smell just like green tea, hm."

"I know. You still can't take my bra off."

More kisses were placed on the back of my neck. I couldn't tell if he was trying to butter me up into letting him take my bra off, or just continuing where he left off. Either way, I didn't really care. He continued whispering things into my ear. "How come you're so curvy now, hm?"

I closed my eyes. "Curvy" was something I definitely wasn't, but compared to how I used to be, I could see how he made the assumption. Lazily, I replied, "I started eating 3 times a day. Actual food, not instant noodles and store bought rice balls."

Deidara moved his hands towards my waist. "If you had me, you could eat amazing food all the time, hm."

"All i've ever seen you make is omelet rice."

"That's all I can make with what you had in that sad apartment, hm."

"Whatever." I wanted so much to turn around to face him, but I didn't want to know how he'd be looking at me. If I could help it, I would never look at him during situations such as the one I was in at the moment.

"Okay," Deidara said. "I can't touch your boobs, hm. What can I touch?"

He kissed the same spot on the back of my neck again, moving his hands across my stomach. "Here?"

His hands moved even lower, going around and squeezing my thighs. "Here, hm?"

I shivered at every touch, hearing nothing but the sound of my rapidly pounding heart and the soft voices coming from the tv.

Deidara's hands reached in the space in between my thighs; I flinched horribly, my eyes going wide. He paused for just a few seconds before kissing the back of my head, keeping his mouth there. "Can I touch you here? Hm?"

His slow grinding against me started back up. I screwed my eyes shut as tight as I could and bit my tongue. Deidara however, just laughed and said, "Can I take your ugly pajama pants off, hm?"

I frowned. "They are _not _ugly." The pajamas in question were pale blue with white clouds dotted everywhere. I had them for a long time, and even though the pants now stopped above my ankles, I had no intention of throwing them out.

Suddenly, Deidara let go of me and sat upright, crossing his legs. "Sit in my lap," he said, pointing.

Leaning up as slowly as I could, I inched over to him, eyes zeroed in on his crotch. There was no doubt that he probably had an erection, but I didn't want to feel it or even be near it.

Catching me staring, he grabbed one of the pillows and placed it in his lap.

"There, hm," he said, smirking. "Better?"

"A little. Why do I have to sit in your lap?"

"No questions, hm! Take your pants off."

I sat, not moving or speaking, contemplating on whether or not I wanted this. Nervously, I fidgeted with my hair. "I don't know," I said quietly. "I—"

Deidara rolled his eyes and yanked them down before pulling me down onto his lap. I was still facing Kazu's bed, and the sight of him curled up under the covers made me freeze.

"Wait!" I whispered, trying to pry Deidara's arms from around my waist. "Kazu is in here, no way."

"It's not like we're having sex, hm."

"Isn't this close enough?"

"No."

We argued back and forth in harsh whispers until I couldn't take it anymore, and Deidara lost his patience.

Usually, I'd heard of guys whispering "sweet nothings" into a girl's ear, whatever that was. I was pretty sure that "sweet nothings" didn't mean, or include, inappropriate things said guy wished to do to said girl. Maybe the "you're so pretty" actually counted, but it wasn't enough.

Hands around the band of my underwear, Deidara was about to do half of what he came into the room to do. I stopped him in record speed.

"Wait," I said quickly, eyes focused on the floor.

"Nope, hm."

The tingling sensation came back, bringing with it the kind of thoughts that never went through my mind. For a strange reason, I immediately got scared again, wanting nothing more than to go lock myself in the bathroom. "Deidara, _wait," _I whined, trying to move his left hand, which had been running over the outside of my underwear. His right was up my shirt, rubbing the spot where my scar was.

Deidara, in what I assumed was an act of reassurance, began to slowly and sloppily kiss the back of my neck again. I couldn't lie, it relaxed me.

"Relax," he said into my left ear. "If you don't stop clenching your muscles I won't be able to get my fingers in, hm."

I did the opposite, going as stiff as I could. "F-fingers?" I asked. "What do you mean 'fingers?'" My entire face all the way down to my neck had begun to burn as the blood rushed upwards in my body.

A brief pause, and Deidara bit the same ear he had been talking in. "Do you want me to stop, hm? I could let you sit here consumed with lust until the sun comes up." There was a smirk in his voice—I had known him enough to tell when he was smirking, regardless of being able to see the exact smirk.

Sighing, I shakily nodded. "Yeah, do it."

"Do what, hm?" Deidara asked, teasing. "Touch you?"

Welcome back, annoyance! The urge to punch him in the face was overpowering, and it seemed like it'd give me more satisfaction.

"Yeah, geez."

He chuckled, moving backwards away from the edge of the bed. I groaned and rolled my eyes, both in anticipation and how long this was taking.

"Takamiya," came Kazu's voice from the other bed. I panicked, jumping out of Deidara's grip and hopping over to the other bed. Kazu rolled over, muttering something unintelligibly. He appeared to be talking in his sleep. Sighing in relief, I slowly turned to face Deidara, who was beckoning me to come back. The reality that Kazu could wake up at any moment gave me enough drive to nearly dive into Deidara.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" I whispered harshly. "Go! Hurry up!"

Laughing like I had said the funniest thing in the entire world, Deidara rested his chin on my shoulder to "see better" I supposed. He was still laughing even as I nearly died of embarrassment when he cupped a hand over my crotch. His hand stayed there for a few seconds before he moved it.

"You know what, hm?" he asked, sounding like it was more to himself than to me. I raised both eyebrows. "What?"

Immediately, I regretted asking after I was lifted off of Deidara's lap and onto my back.

"W-what are you doing?" I asked in horror.

Deidara ignored my question, pulling on my underwear so hard they ripped with a painful sound that made me want to scream. The blue and white fabric formerly known as my favorite pair of panties were thrown to the floor like a used tissue.

"W-whoa!" I looked, in a panic, from the floor to Deidara, and then to my exposed lower area. I covered up as much as I could with both my hands, only for Deidara to take them and pin them above my head with one hand.

His eyes bore directly into mine, and I froze. "W-what are you gonna do?"

All I got in reply was a smirk and a chuckle, which made me automatically fear the worse. I picked up the hint of what he was going to do when he began to plant kisses down my stomach, in a trail going south, eyes never leaving mine in the process.

"Nonono," I shook my head, trying to free my hands. "Stop, r-really, Deidara. I mean it! I said you could _touch _only!"

Finally, words. "I am touching, hm. _With my tongue."_

My face on fire, I tried to move my legs in a way that would make it impossible for him to do what he was planning on doing.

"There's a kid in here," I whined, knowing my efforts were in vain. "Stop being such a per—"

I would have thought that Deidara would at least have the decency to wait until I finished my sentence before he _began. _Having never had oral sex before, I didn't know what to expect. The feeling was strange, made even stranger by the flicking movements of Deidara's tongue. Ever so often, he'd look at me, and i'd look at the ceiling. I completely abandoned all signs of complete and utter embarrassment as he went on. Deidara wasn't even holding my hands anymore, because we both knew that there was no way in hell that i'd be stopping him.

Eyes closed and all senses blurred, I gripped the sheets with one hand, using the other to grab on to Deidara's hair. My body started to do things before my mind could realize what it was doing. Things like my back arching towards his face, as if it'd make it feel _better. _

Soon the entire bed was rocking, and I didn't know if it was me, or Deidara the one doing it. It didn't matter, though. All that mattered was Deidara. And what he was doing. And how it was making me feel.

"_Deidara, please," _I whined. I didn't exactly know what I was asking for, but it was the only words that came out of my mouth. Everything else was just gasps and weird pig-sounding noises.

In the pit of my stomach it felt like bubbles were forming and rapidly moving downward. My hand tightened on Deidara's head, pulling his hair harder than was probably acceptable. Before I could "finish," Deidara stopped, moving up to my face. I moved my head to the side to avoid his kiss—he had _vagina stuff _on his face. I nearly laughed at my word choices. But I didn't know what else to describe it with.

Quiet and embarrassed, I muttered, "...I didn't finish, Deidara."

"Mmhm," he said, holding up a peace sign. It took me a few seconds to realize what it meant, and when I did, I covered my face with one arm. When would the torture be over?

Deidara didn't waste any time. I found I couldn't form any words besides noises (which didn't count).

It was so hot in the air-conditioned hotel room, and sweat dripped down my forehead. It was obvious I would have to take a shower—in the regular bathroom. Thoughts of future showers wasn't enough to distract me from Deidara, and how furiously his fingers were moving inside me.

The feeling in my stomach returned; I knew I was nearing the end. Deidara knew it too, if not by the train of "Oh god"'s spilling out of my mouth.

"You're so _cute, _Shiori, hm."

I planned to say something witty and sarcastic, but I was politely interrupted by an orgasm, a word I hated to think about. It sounded disgusting; everything sounded disgusting to me. Why was I so horribly awkward?

I pushed Deidara away from me and leaned up, panting, and in need of underwear. He smirked and ran his hands up my side. "You should see how red you are, hm."

"Oh, shut up!" I snapped. "I can't believe I let you _do that!"_

"But you feel better now don't you, hm?"

Shrugging, I brought my knees up to my chest and sighed. "I feel like falling in a pile of snow," I said with another loud sigh. Deidara chuckled and flopped down onto his back. He rolled over, facing the wall and said, "Go to sleep."

I tugged his hair in annoyance. "How am I supposed to when you just—just did what you did?"

"Not my fault you can't keep your hands off me, you pervert, hm."

I couldn't help but laugh at this, pulling my pajama pants back on and facing the opposite direction of Deidara. My laughter immediately broke into a million tiny pieces when I saw two big red-brown eyes staring at me through the darkness.

* * *

**A/N: **Faked you guys out! Now if you survived that horribly written, awkward attempt at somewhat of a sex scene without laughing, you probably figured out that the fight wasn't in this chapter.

It will be in the NEXT chapter! :D


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten:

Fighting to the Death Without Dying:

Bloodshed and Little Kids

* * *

Even though the birds were chirping their happy little tune as the morning sun peeked out between the trees, I was awake. I had been awake ever since I discovered Kazu staring at me from the other bed. My entire body ached, for I had spent the entire night with all of my muscles clenched tightly. Probably not the best way to spend a night.

Kazu had since fallen back asleep and had become a ball under the thick comforter—something I longed to be doing. I rolled over like a log to face Deidara, who was sleeping face down in the pillow. It surprised me how often he slept that way. Nearly all of the times I was "graced" with his presence and he had to sleep, he would almost always be facedown in the pillows.

Sighing, I put a hand on his shoulder and shook. "Deidara, wake up." A low groan escaped his throat, followed by a loud hacking noise.

I'd assumed he inhaled too sharply, and couldn't breathe.

"What?" He asked, clearly agitated. Maybe he wasn't in the right mood to fight, and our sparring match would be postponed until later! At the state I was in, I would lose before I even started.

I sighed again and stared at him. I didn't know if I was waiting for him to say something, or waiting for myself to say something. Deidara's mane of blond hair was sticking in every direction possible, like someone had turned up the static electricity in the room. I wanted to reach over and smooth it down, but the soreness of my muscles wouldn't allow for such a thing.

"Why do you sleep like that?" I asked, leaning away in case I had a terrible amount of morning breath. Did it count if you hadn't slept a wink?

Deidara stared at me for a minute before rolling back over and lazily replying, "I 'unno, hm."

He pulled the covers up over his head and I knew it was a sign to leave him alone.

"You're the perfect person to talk to."

He grunted in response.

I chose the small window of quiet time to close my eyes and go over my life choices. What happened; where I went wrong. _Why _was I in a nice hotel in a bed next to a wanted S-ranked criminal? If only time jumping was possible...

Suddenly, a loud wail.

I jumped up, every inch of my body seemed to _scream _in protest as I did so. Trying my best to stand up, I hobbled over to the other bed where Kazu was crying.

"Kazu, what is it?" My voice sound panicked, and it was, because I had been out of the little kid business for a while.

Kazu also had a case of the bed-head, and his red-brown hair stuck straight up. He reached for me, and when I picked him up I knew why he was crying. "No it's okay," I weakly said to him. "You don't have to cry, Kazu. Tons of little kids wet the bed."

The smell of pee made me turn my nose up; it was obvious he hadn't just done it. I carried him to the bathroom and sat him inside of the pearly white bathtub. Pitifully, he looked up at me, like a lost puppy. I took the time to notice the pee stains on his leg bandages.

"Augh, I hope nothing gets infected. Kazu, i'm gonna take the sheets off the bed. You just take your bandages off, okay?"

Kazu nodded.

When I returned, he had stripped completely naked and was trying, unsuccessfully, to climb back out of the bathtub. "Stay put!" I ordered, pointing a finger at him. "Don't hurt yourself even more."

With aching hands and sore knees, I knelt down and turned the water on. Kazu grabbed onto my arm and rested his head on it the best that he could. Tears still streaming down his face, he said, "Takamiya, I'm sorry! Don't put me in the bad-boy room."

I raised an eyebrow and twisted the faucet handle, stopping the flow of water. "What?"

"Papa always put me in the bad-boy room when I did something wrong. But I didn't mean to, Takamiya! I didn't! I wanted to go potty but my legs hurt so I couldn't!"

His grip on my arm turned vice-like, and if Kazu had sharp nails, I'd be bleeding. I sympathized with him though. Being shoved in a room wasn't fun, and the fact that Kazu's father had done it to him—_a five year old, _made it 100 times as worse.

"Don't worry," I said to him. "I won't put you in a room. Or a box. Or anything. Except clothes, you naked child."

It was then I realized something—Kazu had no clothes. The only ones he had were discarded on the floor with a heavy scent of pee.

Kazu moved out of the way before I could shower his head with water. "Takamiya?"

"Yeah?"

"What were you and him doing last night?"

My blood ran cold and I was sure my heart stopped beating. I knew it was coming, I just knew it. I tried to ignore the question by pouring more free hotel shampoo onto his head, but Kazu kept at it.

"What was it, Takamiya?" He pointed a finger at my crotch briefly before using his hands to try and move my arms away. "Why'd he have his face there? You were making noise too, Takamiya. That's how come I woke up."

I stayed silent, eyes focused intently on Kazu's scalp. I could tell my face was flushed horribly by the way it burned. I felt pitiful for being flustered by the questions of a five year old.

"I want to do it to," said Kazu, staring at me intently.

I shrieked, "NO!" and unintentionally emptied the entire shampoo bottle on Kazu's head.

"I mean, no. You can't. You are a little kid, I am an adult."

_Adult. _I didn't think I had ever referred to myself as such. I mean, I _was _twenty years old now. It made me a little sad to think that three years had passed and I hadn't really _accomplished _anything. Save for being kidnapped, held captive, nearly dying and being a fugitive. But who would really be proud of those?

I continued to work on rinsing Kazu off when the bathroom door opened. Deidara slunk inside and made his way to the toilet, as if Kazu and I weren't present.

"Um, hello?" I yelled, covering Kazu's eyes. He had already witnessed one atrocity, there was no need to see another. "Have some decency!"

"Shut up, hm," Deidara replied.

I wondered if he knew that I stopped talking because I had no witty comeback, not because he said so. After he had finished peeing, Deidara didn't leave the bathroom. He sat on the sink and watched. That was what the Akatsuki did well, I noted. They _watched._

His presence began to intimidate me again, an infuriating effect that happened when he watched me. I'd grow paranoid at his silence and lack of motion. I was always afraid he'd snap and murder me.

"What are you doing?" I asked slowly, finally managing to get the shampoo off of Kazu.

No answer.

I gave up on trying to talk to him and instead focused on finding a towel for Kazu. As I pulled him out of the tub, Deidara spoke. "It smells like piss in there, hm."

"Your fault."

Before he could ask why, I broke in. "If you hadn't bombed Kazu's house, he wouldn't have these burns, and if he didn't have burns he would have been able to get up and go pee last night."

I left the bathroom and sat Kazu down on the bed Deidara and I slept in. "Sit here," I said to him. "I'll go..find you some clothes." Turning quickly, I shouted at Deidara to leave the bathroom so I could shower. He turned to me, a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth. I saw the piece of blue tape around the bottom—the same blue tape I put around my own toothbrush.

"Why are you using my toothbrush?" I bellowed, moving to yank it from him.

Deidara just moved out of the way, as if I was a fly that had gotten too close. "Shut up, hm."

I watched in horror as he brushed his teeth with my toothbrush, tossing it in the trash when he was done. "Don't look at me like that," he said. "You were gonna throw it out anyway, hm."

True, but it wasn't something _he _should have done.

I opened my mouth to retort, but was cut off when Deidara pressed me up against the wall. "Take a shower with me," he whispered in my ear.

I rolled my eyes. "You already know the answer to that one."  
Using both of his arms Deidara lifted me up and sat me down on the sink. The lust had once again returned to his (visible) eye, and he _once again_ resembled a dog in heat. "I'm not taking a shower with you," I said. "You just wanna..do naughty things anyway."

He raised an eyebrow. "So, hm?"

"Listen, buddy, even if I did want to do it with you, I'm sure you don't have any protection."

Deidara's expression didn't change. "No," he replied. "I never use condoms, hm."

"Oh, those poor girls who—WHAT?"

In a panic, I shoved him as hard as I could, sending him staggering backwards a few feet. Once he regained his balance, he immediately came back and slapped my face. I was too preoccupied about the fact that Deidara was the most irresponsible person on the planet to be angry about him slapping me.

"Seriously?" I yelled, still panicking. "You never use protection! Deidara, we've done it 3 times you could have gotten me pregnant or—or given me herpes or something!"

"Well, I didn't, did I, hm? And I don't have an STD."

At that point my head started to hurt, and I decided I couldn't be in his presence any longer or I'd probably have a stroke.

So I stood there rubbing my aching head, and Deidara wrapped his arms around me. "Let's take a shower, hm."

I sighed long and hard in defeat. "Alright. Just, back to back, and don't touch me or i'll castrate you."

"Was that supposed to _not _turn me on, hm?"

Another sigh.

I was pretty sure I would have a stroke before it was all over.

* * *

I stepped out of the shower wrinkled, and surprisingly, not violated. Deidara had listened to me and kept his back to me the entire time, something I honestly didn't expect him to do. Past experiences taught me to always have my guard up around him, and I planned to do that for eternity.

Behind me, Deidara moved to the towel rack to cover himself. The heavy steam in the bathroom had fogged up the mirrors to the point that even though I was looking at it, my eyes were still shielded from Deidara's nudity.

"Hey, Deidara," I said quietly, wringing my hands around my hair. "We're still going to fight, right?"

He chuckled, wrapping the towel loosely around his waist. "You still want to, hm? I thought you'd forgotten about it."

"Why would I forget?" My excitement grew and my heart began to pound just thinking about the fight that could happen. "It's why I left, Deidara! To get stronger so you would stop treating me.." I trailed off. Deidara tilted his head to the side slightly, the look on his face showing that he wanted to know what I was about to say.

I muttered a quick, "Forget it," and made my way over to the door. It shut just as quickly as I opened it, held by Deidara's hand.

"After this is over, you and I are going to have a little talk, hm. Okay?" He leaned in, pecking me softly on the mouth. I stared at him, heart pounding and head swimming, as the part of me called "Lovestruck Schoolgirl" took over. The part of me that clouded my brain, corrupted my logic, and made me _weak _at everything that Deidara did. Whether it be the way he laughed, the effeminate behaviors, the "bad boy" aspect—it all was enough for my knees to give in.

"Shiori," whispered Deidara. "You _fascinate _me, hm."

"Oh r-really? Well you fascinate me too, oh... bombtastic blondie."

Another chuckle, followed by another peck.

"I want to know what makes you tick," he continued. It was all very ironic. A criminal wanting to know what made me tick, and me, wanting to know what made a criminal tick.

"Me too," I said, smiling. Immediately afterwards, I stopped, seeing the look in Deidara's eyes. I didn't like that look, nor did I like the things that followed.

To my surprise, I got no grope, or perverted comment. Instead, Deidara said into my ear, "You're so pretty when you smile Shiori, hm."

I smiled shyly at his compliment, averting my eyes and looking at the floor. "Oh, shut up Deidara."

There was small pounding on the bathroom door. I hurriedly pushed Deidara out of the way and swung the door open, landing a hit right to his face. I paid him no mind however, Kazu was more important. He had crawled to the door on his knees, stark naked.

The burns on his legs looked excruciatingly painful, and I felt bad that he had to put them on the hotel carpet just to make it over to the door.

"Kazu, what is it?"

He grabbed the bottom of my towel, trying to hoist himself to his feet, but said nothing. I lifted him almost effortlessly, still worried. "Kazu, what is it?" I repeated.

"I thought you left, Takamiya!" he wailed.

From behind me came Deidara's annual stupid comment. "He has zero balls, hm."

Certain things didn't deserve responses, so I let it go with nothing more than a disapproving noise.

"You'll have to watch Kazu," I said, setting Kazu down on the nearest bed. "I need to get him some clothes."

"Correction," said Deidara, flicking me on the forehead as he walked past me. "_I'm _not going to do anything, hm. And if you want this useless fight to happen then you might want to get ready. Now, hm."

_Useless? _

"Fine!" I snapped, stomping past and grabbing my clothes. "Get out, Deidara!"

"Why, hm? It's nothing I haven't seen be—" he stopped himself, and with one annoyed glare, opened the room door and entered the hallway. I'd show him _useless._

Kazu watched me as I got dressed and oddly enough, it weirded me out.

There was a knock on the door.

"Can I come in now?"

I moved to the mirror to pull my hair up, ignoring the question. Then I remembered that hotel doors locked automatically. "You'll have to wait," I called back. I turned back towards the mirror just as a horrible bang echoed through the room. Deidara had tried to forcefully pry the door open. The patience of a saint. Glancing at Kazu, I noticed he was cringing away from the door as if a monster was behind it.

Well, he was half right.

"Hold on you!" I yelled, running to the door and trying the handle. "It's stuck! You broke the hinges or something. Gosh, Deidara do you have _any _self con-"

Another bang; lights behind my eyes. I was sent into the dark wood dresser, and with a final bang, I was out like a light.

* * *

The white ceiling of the hotel room came into view slowly and hazily. I blinked a few dozen times, trying to bring everything into focus. As my sight became better, so did my pounding headache. It increased in power with every second, until I couldn't see straight anymore.

Deidara's voice came from above. "You up?"

"No," I whined pitifully, putting an arm over my face. "What happened?"

"Well," said Deidara. I couldn't see him, and that panicked me.

"Where are you?"

My upper body shifted over and he came into my window of vision. A bloodstained face towel lie folded over his shoulder, the sight of which reduced me into a panicked blob once again. "I knocked you out, hm," he said flatly, using the towel to dab at a wound I couldn't see. "Well, I hit you with the door and you fell into the dresser. One day your klutziness will kill you, hm."

I attempted to lean up, regretting the decision immediately afterward. How many more head injuries would I be able to take before I lapsed into a coma or died? Sometimes I wondered where my endurance came from. Before, I was in no way strong physically, and surviving the Akatsuki's capture was a complete mystery. It always baffled me how I lived to be twenty-one.

Or was I twenty?

And with a deteriorating mind comes a deteriorating memory.

"Where's Kazu?" I suddenly blurted out. Deidara pointed to the opposite bed devoid of sheets, where Kazu lie asleep. He wore a child's festival yukata, which had hiked up around his waist, exposing his bottom.

"Where did he get those clothes?" I asked.

"Shiori you sound terrible, hm."

"Well I feel terrible."

Deidara moved out of my line of sight again, coming back into view only to dab at my head some more. He answered my questions about Kazu's clothes, stating that he sent Tobi to buy them and that Tobi hadn't thought to buy any underwear for him. Then he went on about how he Kazu wouldn't stop crying so to shut him up, he threatened him with drowning.

"You're so good with children," I muttered sarcastically. I reminded myself to berate him in full for it later. Deidara continued his dabbing and I continued my uselessness, staying silent the entire time.

After a while I felt my eyelids grow heavy. I was so incredibly tired all of a sudden, the tiredest I had ever been.

But in the back of my mind, a nagging voice told me to stay awake.

"No," said Deidara sternly, patting my face. "Stay awake, hm."

I opened my mouth to speak, but hardly anything came out. "Deidara I really think I should go to the hospital."

My vision blurred and went back into focus multiple times as I waited for him to say something. He shook his head, tossing the nearly-red towel onto the floor.

"You'll be okay, hm."

It may have been my imagination, but he sounded slightly panicked—like he didn't exactly like what was in front of him. I exhaled, closing my eyes. Maybe one 10 second nap wouldn't hurt?

Another, harder, pat to the face and my eyes shot open. They may as well have been closed, for everything resembled a jumbled mess of colors now.

"Where are you?" I asked a second time. Deidara answered my question by resting his head on my chest, one hand pressing a new towel against my head.

"I had Tobi go find a medical ninja, hm. You'll be okay."

The slight panicked tone had returned and disappeared by the end of his sentence. He sighed. "I've lost count on how many times i've almost killed you Shiori, hm. I wonder when I finally will."

What an unsettling thing to say.

"Well," I replied. "I guess, if you were to kill me, maybe i'd be okay with that. I mean, I'd rather it be you, than someone I didn't know."

What an unsettling thing to say.

"Hopefully it won't come to that, hm."

_'Hopefully.'_

I flinched as he pressed the towel harder to my head wound.

I took in a deep breathe, held it, and blew it out, sending some of Deidara's hair over his face. "It hurts so much, Deidara."

No response.

To keep myself awake, I figured I should at least try and keep up a solid conversation. Quietly, I said, "You've changed, you know. Before, you wouldn't even care if I had a head injury. You'd let me bleed to death. Well...I owe you one I guess. Next time you lose an arm, i'll find it for you. I can't sew very well so I don't think I can reattach it but..."

"That's good enough," he said, chuckling. "I can just have Kakuzu reattach it, hm." He leaned up quickly, as if startled by something and I involuntarily tried to mimic him.

As far as his facial expression went, I couldn't make it out. I assumed it to be angry though.

"What's wrong?" I tried to lean up again.

My only answer was a string of 'fucks' and that didn't really answer my question. If anything it boosted my anxiety. Deidara said a quick: "Nothing" before pressing the towel harder onto the side of my head.

"You're getting pale.."

"Oh. Gosh, i'm tired." I wanted so desperately to close my eyes and fall asleep, but something kept telling me not to. Back to the conversation method.

"Deidara?"

He 'hm-ed' at me.

"What if you had to mercy-kill me. What then?"

"Shiori, don't ask me shit like that, hm."

I tried a different approach—word games. "Okay," I whispered. I wondered why I was whispering. "I'll say a word and you say a word starting with the last letter of the word I just said. Apples."

"_Shit."_

"Hey, no cursing!"

After a few moments it became clear that Deidara had no interest in participating in my word game, and was only concerned about the warm liquid seeping through the pillow under my head.

It was sheer coincidence that his profanity started with 's.'

He went to move again but I grabbed his fingers to prevent him from doing so. "Don't leave. I can't see you when you leave."

Deidara sighed and rested his head on me again. "You should hear yourself, hm. You sound like an alcoholic."

"What?"

"You're slurring—nevermind, hm. If Tobi doesn't hurry up i'm gonna decapitate him."

My eyelids began to drop. "Where is he?" I asked, still holding onto Deidara's fingers. He didn't seem to mind that I was probably blocking his hand-mouth from opening at all. It made me kind of glad. Deidara wasn't always like how he was at that moment. Sometimes, borderline-psycho Deidara came to visit, and I dreaded it every time.

"Nevermind where he is. _God, _Shiori."

"What? What i'd do?"

I felt his free hand running through my hair, feeling around on my scalp. It felt kind of nice. He said in disbelief, "These scars on your head. How are you not brain damaged yet, hm?"

Attempting to shrug, I replied, "I 'unno...I kinda think I am brain damaged though. My memory ain't what it used to be. Or maybe i'm getting old."

This elicited a chuckle from Deidara—another achievement for me!

"I'm sorry," he suddenly said, his voice turning solemn. "You have permission to get me back in some way, hm."

"Yeah! A fight—"

He cut me off. "There won't be a fight, hm. Besides, it's pretty safe to say that you lost already."

I attempted to roll my eyes, until I noticed they were closed, and that wasn't good.

"Hey, Deidara?"

No answer. He was already listening. Probably.

"I'm sorry okay?" I attempted to pat him on the back, but I missed, and touched the bed instead.

"What are you sorry for, hm?"

"I don't know. I just am."

I just was.


	11. Chapter 11

Hmm...I guess a slight warning for language here? I mean, we're all mature here right?

Sorry this one's a little short. I needed to end with a one liner, and noticed I had only written 6 pages.

* * *

Chapter Eleven

–

Lets

–

A quiet room. An eerie quiet that followed such events as murders and shady back alley business dealings. Discarded towels and a pillow stained beyond repair littered the once clean floor, effectively turning it into a mock crime scene. I guess anyone could argue that it was the work of both Deidara and I that caused the gaping hole in my head. Either way though, I still had low center gravity and Deidara still had the growing list of problems that he always had.

Tobi still hadn't shown up, and that posed a problem for both me and the fact that I was slowly but surely bleeding to death in what was once a very nice hotel room. I hoped I wouldn't, though, for it would be a _pretty _cheap death.

"Hey," I said, tugging on Deidara's hair. He had now positioned me horizontally on the bed rather than the previous vertical which honestly, didn't seem to do much.

"Hey," I repeated. "I think you should..go find Tobi. Or better yet, just take me to the hospital."

He ignored my request, opting instead to let loose an impressive string of curse words.

If I weren't so weak, I'd have definitely let loose a few of my own. I understood that maybe he was trying not to expose himself by taking me to the hospital, but it was a risk he'd have to take.

A small voice sounded from the other side of the room. "Is Takamiya okay?"

"Nope," I replied, staring blankly at the ceiling. I found that as long as I focused on one point my vision stopped blurring. At least for a while.

Deidara tossed yet another towel to the floor. He turned towards the door, as if staring at it would somehow make Tobi automatically appear in thin air.

I put my hand on his knee to get his attention again. "You're going to get a bunch of gray hairs worrying about me, you know?"

A blank cat stare.

"Can you please do me a favor?" I paused, waiting for an answer. No such luck. "Please?"

Deidara huffed and folded his arms. "What is it, hm."

"Take me to the hospital."

"No."

"You don't have to even come in! Just leave me out front or something."

"No, hm."

Sighing, I looked back at the ceiling. The longer I laid there, the more exhausted I became. It wouldn't be long, I supposed, before I went to sleep and never woke back up. "Deidara I know you don't particulalary care about me I guess, but I really don't want to bleed to death. And I _am _bleeding to death right now."

An annoyed expression flashed across Deidara's face, and for a moment I was afraid he'd hit me. He squinted at me through his dark-rimmed eye; a look that I was very used to, and continued to dab at my wound. There wasn't a disgusting blood clot on the towel this time, and I took that as somewhat good news?

"I'm going to stitch it up myself, hm," he said, folding the towel back up.

I began to panic inside. The feeling completely nullified the throbbing pain in my head , luring me into the state of mind that I could just get up and run away.

Shaking my head side to side, I said, horrified, "No, you can't, Deidara! Just take me to the hospital!"

Hospitals had anesthetics and would knock you out before operating on you. Hospitals were sterilized, and risk of infection was relatively lower than a hotel room.

Deidara pressed a hand over my mouth. "Be quiet, hm. You're starting to not make any sense."

What? All that time I _thought _I was forming coherent sentences but I wasn't? I frowned and closed my eyes, drifting ever so close to falling asleep. When I opened my eyes again, Deidara wasn't there. Funny. I hadn't even felt him move.

I took the time to try and stay awake, thinking about my family and what they might be doing at the moment. I'd have to send them something soon to let them know I was okay. It felt like hours had passed when Deidara finally came back into sight. Soon after, another head appeared. An unfamiliar head. He was wearing all white, and had the appearance of your run of the mill field medic nin.

"Fix her," Deidara told him, pointing to my head.

The medic leaned over me, examining my wound. His facial expressions clued me in on the severity of it (although the blood and the pain pretty much summed it up).

"She's lost a lot of blood," he said, still looking me over. "If she doesn't get to the hospital soon, she'll die."

I looked over at the captain of stubborness himself. Everything was becoming hazy again, and I hoped I wouldn't be able to feel the stitches. Deidara leaned forward, his eye squinted and one hand clenching the collar of the medic.

"_Fix. Her."_

The medic nodded, obviously intimidated, and began to rummage around in his pack. Out of which he pulled gauze and three other things that I didn't recognize. I watched him put on white gloves as quickly as he could, a nervous look on his face. To be honest, I was nervous too.

"It'll hurt," he said to me. "There's nothing to numb it with, so you'll feel everything."

I closed my eyes and I noticed how shallow my breathing had become. My head hurt so much it felt like it was going to explode, and it would get worse with the stitches. My body didn't really have a high tolerance for pain, so even the smallest things could send me reeling.

Deidara must have remembered this, because he pressed his hand over my mouth to stifle any scream that may come out. I honestly didn't have the energy to scream, so it wouldn't be much of a problem.

Before the medic even touched my head I felt more pain. His hands hovering over the wound was enough. He looked at Deidara and said quietly, "You'll have to turn her on her side."

Deidara obeyed, rolling me over as quickly (and roughly) as he could.

This was going to be fun.

* * *

She was quiet. Still. Pale and lifeless, she looked like a doll. Luckily, she wasn't lifeless; the only thing keeping her alive, according to the bumbling medic, was the bag of red blood hooked into her veins. There were more on the nightstand, and Deidara was told to hook them up to her one after another.

While the medic gave her the stitches, she cried the entire time—an awful noise that made him upset for a reason he had yet to figure out. She even cried when some of her hair had to be cut so her wound could get sewn up properly.

And of course, because she was crying, the kid was crying too.

Deidara didn't even know why Shiori had brought him along. Kids were annoying.

As he stared down at her, Deidara began to feel the urge to lean down and kiss her. He found it easier to kiss her when she was asleep...or unconscious, for she never got fidgety or annoying this way.

Before he could, though, Shiori opened her eyes and looked directly at him through half closed lids.

* * *

"You were going to kiss me, weren't you?" I asked, rubbing my eyes. It felt like I had been out of it for days. Bringing my fingers up to my head, I felt my brand new headband made of gauze. I was glad my wound was patched up, but I felt utterly exhausted.

Deidara sighed long and hard. He looked tired as well, I noticed. Patting the spot next to me, I said, "Lie down. I'm tired of looking up at you."

It took a minute for the stubborn barrier to go down, but once it did, Deidara flopped down next to me, letting out another impressive sigh.

"Let's talk, Deidara. You said we could after the fight. Well I guess I lost that already."

Too tired to feel embarrassed, I pressed on with the smalltalk.

Deidara was silent, the only sound coming from his breathing. Somehow it felt like I was annoying him, and that uncomfortable air hung thick over my head. Suddenly, he spoke. "I only captured you that day because you looked like her, hm."

Slowly the memory fought its way through the dull throbbing in my head and a name followed: _Kiya._

"Oh," I replied quietly. "Well, it's nice to know why you did it. I didn't fight back because I suck, and Yomi's fetish of being dominated may have surfaced in my head."

He laughed. What a nice sound.

Then, he squeezed my hand and kept it inside his. The sudden affection surprised me, and the kneejerk reaction was a snarky reply.

"Getting soft, Deidara?"

My hand became alone again.  
"Probably, hm." There was a hint of remorse in this. Typical for a criminal veering down the soft road. "I _did _apologize to you earlier. I never apologize, hm."

Quickly, and while his guard was down, I took the chance to try and change the subject. "Deidara," I said. "Did I really remind you of Kiya?"

He didn't say anything at first, and I figured it was a touchy subject. Considering how uncomfortable Deidara was just being _inside _Iwagakure, I wasn't surprised.

"No." He leaned up so his weight was rested on his elbows, and peered down at me. There was a smirk on his face. "I said you _looked _like her, hm. After you started speaking I knew you were nothing alike."

I interrupted with a "How so?"

"Well," he continued. "You were weak, and you have yet to prove to me otherwise, 'Miss I-Lost-a-Fight-to-a-Piece-of-Furniture,' hm."

Poking my mouth out to form a pout, I shifted my gaze to the ceiling. The whole incident was, after all, _his _fault. As I pretended to be interested in the white paint of the walls, I felt Deidara staring at me through that one eye like he always did. It was like he was studying me—I hated it.

Then, his hand on my cheek.

"Kiss me, Shiori, hm."

"Well I don't want to kiss you. I'm just a rebound girl anyway."

He huffed in irritation, like a little kid who had to sit in time out. His lips were puckered outwards in a childlike pout, and despite what I said, I _did _want to kiss him. He must have realized this too, because in a second, the pout vanished and his hair tickled my face as he leaned over me.

"I am not willing," I interjected. "So this is molestation."

"Shut up, Shiori."

And shut up I did, turning my head to the side just as he moved in. Eyebrow twitching, he frowned at me. I looked at him bashfully. "I didn't brush my teeth today."

Deidara's nose twitched. "I don't smell anything, hm. You didn't eat any food yesterday."

That didn't mean anything. He moved closer to me still, and my heart began to pound. I felt my cheeks flush (although it may have been the blood bags working its way back into my system), and the feeling that this was my first ever kiss came back. It had a habit of showing up at absolutely any time Deidara reminded me that he _existed. _Whether he be talking, or laughing, or being an ass, I got the shakes.

The last factor worried me.

It seemed as though Deidara had been severely kiss-deprived; each kiss grew rougher than the last. I was enjoying it though, and the making out honestly made me feel a little better. My head discomfort seemed to fade for the seconds that his mouth was pressed against mine.

Sometimes it was hard not to admire Deidara's expertise in situations of that nature. I couldn't believe that he was only a year older than me (Yomi taught me age had nothing to do with it obviously). Quickly, as if he was running out of time, Deidara pulled away just enough for him to speak, but close enough that our lips still touched.

"What is it?" I asked, hoping what he said was true about me not having morning breath.

He was breathing heavily and eyes were boring into my face, which was awkwardly scrunched closer to my neck so I could get a better look at his face.

"What is it?" I asked again. He moved closer to my ear and emitted a breathy, _needy_: "Let's fuck, baby."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

–

Questions

–

"No, I like talking. Talking's nice."

Deidara looked at me as if I had committed a grave offense by refusing to have sex with him. Maybe to him, it was. The thought made me want to laugh a little bit. It was always amusing how sexually depraved he seemed to be, but I supposed it came with the job description.

I glanced over at Kazu as Deidara made a noise of irritation and buried his face into my neck. It wasn't obvious if Kazu was sleeping or not—he was curled up facing the other way, but he was quiet, and for little kids that means sleeping (usually).

"I think I want to adopt Kazu," I said. It felt weird to say it, but where else would he go?

Deidara snorted. "You? A mother? Yeah right, hm. You'd kill the both of you with your clumsiness."

"Whatever."

I shifted uncomfortably, trying to move his body weight off of me, but he stayed put. He was silent, just breathing down my neck, and I knew that he was planning to do something inappropriate anyway. "Hey," I whispered. "What happens after we leave this hotel?"

I feared his answer. I didn't want it to be something saying that we would go our separate ways. Anything but that. Not after I had went through so much to find him again.

"Whatever happens, happens," he replied. "But you'll be going home, hm."

_I knew it. _

It was, after all, the only logical explanation. I knew it all along, but I didn't want to acknowledge the truth. I didn't _want _to come to my senses and realize that what I had been doing all this time was pointlessly dangerous and I had gotten hurt in _so _many ways. Sometimes I wondered if I was a masochist. Or had Stockholm Syndrome. Deidara had been my captor, yet I found myself drawn to him the most. And then there I was, massive head wound in a hotel room littered with blood soaked towels and a pee-scented mattress.

Living the good life, I was.

"Okay," I said in defeat. At the sound of my voice I bet, Deidara leaned up just enough to look at me. His visible eyebrow raised.

"What's up with you?" he asked me, eye searching my face. "You usually start whining about how you don't want to leave me, hm."

I shrugged and looked at the ceiling again, anywhere but his face. "I'm tired, Deidara. I think being at home will be good for me. Just being at home, and doing odd jobs and missions for cash for the rest of my life. That sounds about right."

It was about time I accepted this, wasn't it?

I continued to talk, ignoring the incredulous look on Deidara's face. "I think I might catch up with Yomi again. I do feel pretty bad for dropping her as a friend like that. And maybe i'll hang out with Makoto—"

'Makoto' was the trigger that sent Deidara's fingers digging into my arms.

"What's your—ow—problem, Deidara? Ow!"

When I successfully pried his fingers away from my arms, he just held my hands up above my head.

"What'd I tell you, hm?" His tone had gotten awfully serious and overprotective, and I felt a little unsettled. "About being near other men?"

"Oh come off it Deidara," I said, freeing my hands. "We're just friends. Childhood friends. Stop being so—so—jealous?"

He rolled his eyes, rolling off of me as well. "I'm not jealous, hm. I'm just protecting what's mine."

"Protecting? _Mine? _I am not an object, you jerk!" For extra dramatic effect, I added, "And i'm not yours."

Deidara raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Than who do you belong to, hm?"

I tried to lean up, but my head throbbed in protest. Lying down was much less painful, but it didn't help my argument to be in a "submissive" position. "I belong to myself," I said with an air of confidence. Confidence that vanished as soon as I caught Deidara's glare.

"Don't look at me like that! You—" My sentence was cut short by the opening of the broken room door, which rebounded off the wall with a BANG. Before I could even see who it was, Deidara had spoken.

"What do you want, Tobi?"

There was a pause between 'want' and 'Tobi.' Sure enough, Tobi did appear around the corner, surveying the damage in the room. Then, he crossed over to Deidara and whispered something in his ear. Whatever this secret was, it made Deidara roll his eyes towards the ceiling and make a disapproving noise.

I raised an eyebrow at the both of them, what with the way that they were staring at me in silence. The silence bothered me, just like every other silence in their presence. Tobi's especially.

Deidara waved his hand, dismissing Tobi, and returned to staring at me. His eyes roamed my entire body—I took this as a sign of bad things to come.

"What?" I asked, edging away from his gaze. "Stop looking at me. What did Tobi say to you?"

He rolled his eyes again. "Don't worry about it, hm."

I wanted to retort, but decided it wasn't worth it. Arguing with Deidara never really got me anywhere, or anything but a headache. Sometimes I thought he knew he could rile me up so easily and that's why he did it. I was pretty positive about that one.

"You're worrying about it already," he said, touching my face. On instinct I moved away from his hand and he drew it back immediately, offense crossing his face again.

I ignored his facial expression and used him as a guide to pull myself into an upright position. My head swam, and my vision blurred for a bit and I wanted to flop back down and stay that way forever. But now I was level with Deidara, and this made me feel a bit better.

"Well," I couldn't really hear myself speak. "Would you at least fly me home? I'm assuming whatever Tobi told you was important Akatsuki business."

"Well," he repeated. "We're pretty far from your village, hm. So you're on your own."

My head ached and throbbed in protest of the agitated yells I was about to unleash in Deidara's direction. Instead, I opted to the less verbal approach—taking a fistful of his soft hair and tugging as hard as I could.

Making a noise resembling a yelp (a manly yelp I should add), his eye widened in surprise at the four or five blond strands that had actually managed to come out.

I was hoping for more. If I had a slight-bald spot, so should he.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" he bellowed, grabbing a handful of my own hair. I pretty much expected this reaction, and I braced myself for it.

Then I remembered that pesky head injury and howled in pain. This impressive holler jolted Kazu awake, sending him straight into a loud, high-pitched wail that made my head ache worse.

Two adults holding each other by the hair, and a crying child: a picturesque example of normal hotel activities.

"Say you're sorry, hm!"

"Don't be a child, Deidara. Let me go!"

His gripped tightened, and I swore I felt my scalp lift. I'd have to challenge him when I was fully healed.

I didn't say anything, I _couldn't _say anything. I had to accept defeat for this one, or else he would rip a patch of my scalp away.

From the left side of the room, Kazu's warbled voice yelled, "Leave Takamiya alone!"

Surprisingly, Deidara's hand unraveled from my hair and a few strands of it were wrapped around the tongue on his hand.

"Now we're even, hm." He rubbed the spot on my head where he had held on to. "I was kidding anyway. I'll take you home, hm."

"Of course..I knew _exactly _that you were kidding." I let my eyes drop down to my lap, feeling a twinge of embarrassment. But I was sure that he would do something in the future to deserve the hair pull, so it was just a preview.

Deidara placed his forehead on my shoulder. "Shiori," he whispered.

Shivers went down my spine. It wasn't often that Deidara said my name; at least, not as much as I said his.

"Yes?"

"I don't think you realize," he paused, one hand snaking around my neck. "How much I want to _fuck _you, hm."

For a second, I held my breath before exhaling and patting his back. "I have an idea," I said in a manner a mother would speak to a child. "I just want to talk. Is that such a problem?"

"Yes. Do you know why, hm?"

"Why?" I asked, honestly curious. Deidara sighed and shifted a little in his spot, his face pressed into my neck.

"Well." A pause. "I haven't done _anything _for an entire year, hm. Not once. Because no one else can satisfy me, hm."

Oh. I vaguely remembered Deidara telling me that a long time ago, and the idea that someone like me could be thought of in that way made me nervous.

But in a good way I supposed.

"You're such a liar," I whispered, my cheeks puffing out. "I don't even know how to do it so I can't satisfy you."

It was honestly how I thought. Whenever we did anything, I just laid motionless while he did all the work. And if what Yomi told me a while ago was true, men didn't usually like when the girl didn't actively get into the act with them.

Deidara was looking at me now, extremely close as usual, and I knew my low self esteem resurfacing had annoyed him. His eye narrowed, roaming my face before coming to a stop, gazing right into my own. I tried to look away, starting to feel more and more like a tiny insignificant speck of nothing.

Deidara said fiercely, "Look at me," and I obeyed almost immediately. I didn't like the tone in his voice. "I swear, Shiori, if you don't straighten up your self-esteem I will beat you senseless, hm."

The kicker was that I wasn't quite sure he was kidding.

He continued to talk, his voice a low rumble in my ear. "I want you so bad, Shiori."

I nodded, staring blankly at the opposite wall. It was then that those pesky little hormones and urges started to rear their ugly heads.

Honestly though, at that moment, I understood Deidara completely. But it didn't matter. I had no desire to do _anything _with a head injury.

"Deidara I can't."

He drew away from me as if I had a flesh eating disease, taking his warmth with him. Once again, he looked offended. Obviously Deidara wasn't used to his advances being rejected, and I found this to be sort of sad. I thought about it long and hard, wondering if he was legitimately offended that I had refused him. Maybe it was some strange psychological thing.

My thoughts were cut short, however. Deidara had stood up and was now in the mirror fixing his hair.

I looked over at Kazu. He was staring right at me, no expression on his face. Kazu was awfully good at poker faces. Probably from his household and wearing masks all the time.

Kazu extended an arm towards me—my cue to come over and pick him up. He wasn't very good at communicating either. "I should re-wrap your burns," I said quietly, more to myself than to him.

Standing up was a challenge in itself, but walking was another story. The entire room seemed to tilt sideways, and I had only taken one step.

"What's the matter, Takamiya?" Kazu put both hands on the sides of my face. "Does your head hurt?"

The concern in his voice melted my heart, and I shot a cold look to the back of Deidara's head. He saw my face reflected in the mirror.

I sat down hard, bouncing a little on the soft mattress. The cushy impact still managed to rattle my head, dizzying me and leaving me feeling exhausted. It was pure luck that I didn't just drop Kazu onto the floor.

"Stand back up, hm. We're going soon."

Ignoring Deidara's harsh command, I unhooked myself from the blood bag hanging above me and went to work on re bandaging Kazu's burns. He whined whenever the burn spray came into contact with his skin, kicking his legs at the same time. I nearly took three kicks to the face before he was finally finished being patched up.

"Do you think you can walk, Kazu?" I asked,trying to lower him down onto the carpet. He immediately started to holler, gripping onto me as tightly as possible. His nails dug into my forearm and his free hand reached up to grab onto my neck.

Kazu was like a monkey.

"Okay!" I lifted him back up. "I'm sorry."

"He can walk fine. He just wants you to carry him, hm."

I turned slowly to face Deidara, still fixing his hair in the mirror. His eye was focused on me through the mirror's reflection.

"And how would you know that?"

He said, "Let's go," and exited the room quickly after giving me another hard glance through the mirror. I watched the spot where he had been, frowning. Sometimes I found myself wishing for a much kinder person. Someone who wouldn't give you cold stares and hurt you on purpose. Someone who's promiscuity level wasn't so high as to warrant genuine anger when the other party refused their advances.

"Why do I do this to myself?" I wondered aloud, bending over to retrieve my bag. It seemed to weigh a ton now that I was weak from blood loss and carrying a child at the same time. I wished for someone who had the decency to offer to carry a girl's bag when she wasn't feeling well.

When would this someone come? Would this someone ever come? Or would I continue to live like this, with so many unanswered questions?

I sighed and entered the hallway, leaving the ruined, bloodstained hotel room behind.

* * *

No one spoke on the flight back to my village. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air , weighing heavily on my shoulders. I was sure Deidara could care less, and that made the silence that much unbearable. It was sunny and warm, one of the tamest days of the summer yet. The sun would go behind clouds ever so often, and a breeze would pick up every time it felt too hot.

All in all, a nice day for flying.

If only someone was speaking.

I looked down at Kazu through the narrow slits in the fox mask he insisted I wear.

He was holding on to me tightly, head buried in my chest—the same position he'd taken since we'd ascended. I was sure it was terrifying for him to be up so high, and all I wished for was for him not to wet himself or puke.

Or both.

Glancing over at Deidara, I saw that he was standing, back facing me. His cloak flapped around in the wind, making the only noise on the entire trip.

Suddenly, the bird dipped sharply, nearly aiming straight for the ground. Immediately I panicked, letting out a high pitched scream that startled Kazu. He became aware of his surroundings and screamed even louder than I could ever do, digging his fingers so hard into my arm I was afraid they'd break.

Then, we were upright again.

This was perfect opportune to finally say something. "What was that?" I screeched, trying to shush the traumatized boy in my arms.

I received no answer. Instead, another sharp dip, ending with a quick slowdown. Deidara reached down and grabbed my ponytail, effectively slinging me and Kazu off of the bird.

Luckily the fall was about as far as I was tall, and I landed swiftly on one knee. It stung a bit from the impact, but not as much as my head from the impromptu ponytail grab.

"What do you think you're _doing?" _

Deidara glared down at me, saying nothing, but at the same time saying everything.

"Nevermind!" I shouted up at him, standing up unsteadily. I opened my mouth again, and all of the frustration from the past few days came out at once. "Go ahead! Leave me again like you always do! I don't even care if you come back! Just know this—I'm not going to wait forever. I can't keep fawning over you. I'm at my limit! I thought that by could going off and training for a year and fighting you would give me a sense of peace or something but..You say you love me but I honestly can't tell."

I stepped closer, pointing a finger at him.

"Guess what? I hate you! And I never want to see you again!"

A stifling silence followed, and my finger lingered weakly in the air. I didn't know what would happen next, but what I knew for certain, was that the last sentence that came out of my mouth was a complete and utter lie.

And I hadn't noticed until I had already said it.

Deidara narrowed an eye at me, once again his face said everything without him actually saying anything.

"Consider your wish granted, hm."

The clay bird ascended with two giant flaps of its wings and turned slowly in the air before soaring out of sight.


	13. Chapter 13

Bluh bluh short chapter. Just wanted to end it on a certain part is all.

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

–

Back to Basics

–

I stared at the sky for a long time after that.

It wasn't until Kazu gently patted my mask with his palms did I come back to Earth.

"Whatever," I muttered to myself. "After all he's done to me—that was for the best."

Right?

Millions of words and thoughts buzzed around in my head like tiny little agitated bees. I was waiting for them to start stinging the back of my eyes.

The most prominent thought was the image of Deidara's expression before he left. I couldn't quite put a finger on what exactly his face showed, but whatever it was, I had never seen him look like that.

As I walked towards the village gates, I passed the tree where I had first seen Deidara. Its roots seemed to be thicker than I remembered, but I shrugged it off as my deteriorating memory finally doing its job.

"You really don't have to wear that mask," I said to Kazu. He stayed silent, hands clenched tightly around the fabric of my shirt.

Speaking of which, it really needed a good washing. The heavy scent of charred wood and smoke was as strong as ever, and I eagerly awaited the moment when I could change clothes.

Kazu sighed. "I'm hungry, Takamiya."

"You know, you could just call me Shiori."

"Okay, Takamiya."

–

Not much had changed at the village, although I hadn't really expected it to. I hadn't been gone for more than a week. Many people stared as I made my way through the crowded market street, edging away as if I was intimidating.

Maybe it was the mask.

A friendly voice sounded over the jumbled mess of voices.

"Shiori! Over here!"

I turned towards the speaker, who was positioned behind a meat stand—the same spot he had been since I was four. Mr. Saito was his name, and he had a gruff appearance, with an even gruffer voice. Despite his intimidating size and face, was the friendliest man I had ever met.

He smiled when I approached. "Haven't seen you in a bit. Nice fox mask!"

"Thanks," I replied, trying to erase any signs of distress in my voice. I pulled the mask up and to the side so my face was visible. Mr. Saito's eyes landed on Kazu, who, at the sight of him, had buried his face into my neck.

"Who's this?"

I tried to unhinge Kazu's monster grip on me. "His name is Kazu—"

Both of Mr. Saito's eyebrows shot up. "He isn't your kid, is he?" he asked seriously.

"No!" I replied quickly with a laugh. "Well, he's my new room mate I guess. Say hi, Kazu!"

Kazu shook his head. His hair tickled my chin.

"Shy guy, huh?" said Mr. Saito, chuckling. "Well Shiori, I have food for you! I know how much you can eat these days."

I misheard him as saying 'I know how much you _should _eat these days.' I nearly laughed at the thought of him saying something like that. Besides, that was something Deidara would say.

Mr. Saito began placing meat skewers into a plastic container, continuing to talk all the while. "Man oh man, little lady. You used to be as thin as a rake a few years back. I was a little worried about you."

Nodding slowly, I planted my eyes on the delicious barbeque that would be mine in a few minutes.

"You look much healthier now! Well, you did. What happened? You're as pale as a sheet."

"Head injury," I mumbled, still staring at the food. "Blood lost, stitches given. Need food and rest."

Mr. Saito laughed, loud and heartily, handing me the plastic container. It was piping hot.

"Go on and get rest then. Swing on by a little later! I'll have something for your new roommate!"

Waving a quick goodbye, I continued on down the street. The noise soon died down as I neared my apartment building. It was nice. Apparently Kazu felt the same, for his grip loosened on me and he looked around.

"This is my apartment," I said cheerily. "I live here. I used to live with my parents, but I felt like I needed to be on my own."

Once inside, I sat Kazu down on the couch and dropped my bag on the cold floor. Various items spilled out, including Kazu's stuffed animal. I flopped down beside him and closed my eyes, tired and weary.

It felt like I could sleep for days. But I knew I would be getting none until I checked in with my parents and Hibari-Sensei. The latter of which would probably give me a thorough verbal slam for leaving unannounced.

Slowly, I removed my mask and tossed it on the coffee table. Kazu mimicked me perfectly, and curled up against my side like a cat.

I thought it was cute how attached to me Kazu seemed to be, and it made me want to keep him even more. I asked him, "Aren't you hungry?"

A nod.

I opened the container from Mr. Saito and placed it on the coffee table. "I'm going to go take a shower. I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere, okay?"

Another nod. "Okay."

Smiling, I stood and went down the short hallway, discarding my clothes before I even made it into my room. It was stuffy, and the window was shut tight, allowing little sunlight in. Everything was how I left it—a pile of laundry on the floor by the closet, empty green tea bottle on the nightstand, and a few dresser drawers ajar.

I got straight down to business, collecting everything I needed for after my shower and throwing it on the bed. Every few seconds or so I'd hear Kazu's voice coming from the living room and I briefly wondered if he was talking to himself. I realized he was humming, a song I couldn't quite remember the name of. It was a lullaby, and Mom would sing (or hum) it to the Twin Monsters when they were babies to quiet them down. I remembered asking her why I hadn't gotten the lullaby treatment, and her only reply was: "You were a quiet baby, I didn't need to sing to you much."

Fair enough.

My shower was long and relaxing, with the water temperature set as high as my skin could take and the steam relieving some of the pressure in my head. It felt like the best thing I could ever experience, the next best thing being a nice nap. But as was always the case, there were other things to do first.

I threw on a comfy pair of cotton shorts and a tank top—my usual sleep attire, and returned to the living room. Kazu had finished exactly four meat skewers, the sticks laid out neatly on the table. It surprised me that he hadn't eaten more, but I shrugged it off as him being polite, as there were only eight in the container.

"You need a bath too, mister."

Kazu frowned and shook his head firmly. "No."

It was his first act of defiance towards me, I noticed. "Yes," I said. "You could use one every day you know."

He didn't say anything, he just stared at me with his big round eyes that seemed like they once belonged to a puppy. I resisted the look as best as I could and turned the television on.

"Hm," I snorted. "I'll introduce you to my brother and sister, Kazu. They're a little bit older than you."

More silence. I turned to him, remote in hand.

"What were you humming earlier?"

Kazu blinked and looked at the tv screen. I thought that maybe I had struck some sort of nerve by asking, so I silently dropped the subject.

"Goodnight," he said. "One time, I was asleep and the Fox Woman came into my dream and sang it to me."

I nodded. "My mom sang it to my brother and sister when they were babies. I like that song!"

"Me too."

No one spoke after that. I just stared at the television, Kazu doing the same, and let my mind wander. It wandered to my head stitches, and it wandered to the blisters on my feet. Then, it wandered to what happened just an hour or so ago.

I felt both stupid and completely justified in my actions of telling Deidara off. But his expression made me think that I was the one in the wrong.

Any reasonable person would see that, judging by what physical and mental abuse I had suffered, that was completely untrue.

But still.

Still, a nagging, aching feeling festered inside of me. It made me want to throw up.

"Eat," said Kazu, tugging my arm.

I did just as he said, still thinking about what happened. The food didn't want to stay down, and it was a struggle trying to swallow 4 entire meat skewers but I did it. And I felt a sense of accomplishment over something as silly as that.

Too bad it ended up in the toilet.

Kazu rubbed my back as I gagged and retched into the toilet bowl, completely dispelling the delicious food that Mr. Saito had so graciously given to me for free.

When my stomach decided it was finished torturing me, I leaned up. "I'm going to have to go to the pharmacy."

"Let's go to the market instead."

I looked down at Kazu through half lidded eyes. He was tugging my shirt now, trying to coax me into standing. "I'll make you all better, Takamiya."

I smiled weakly. It was nice that someone as young as Kazu could be so sweet.

"Okay then." I stood up and flushed the toilet. "Let's go to the market. I'll leave everything up to you."

He grinned at me—the first time since I met him, and just as fast as it had appeared, it was gone.

–

The market in the village was never much of a "market." It was about the size of a convenience store, and was painfully crowded during the mornings and late afternoon. It just so happened to be late afternoon when Kazu and I strolled down the road to the market, and there was a line of nothing but moms and grandmothers. Each held their own little bag or basket for shopping, and didn't seem to mind waiting in the heat for groceries.

"Well this is a problem," I said, watching as another woman took her place in line. "I don't really have the energy to wait in this line, Kazu."

Kazu sighed and puffed out his cheeks, like this was the greatest disappointment he'd experience all day.

"We can go to my parent's house. My mom makes the best food. Besides, they probably wanna chew me out for running off again. And I can introduce you to the Twin Monsters."

Kazu shook his head. "I want to go back to your apartment, Takamiya."

I started in the direction of my parent's house. "Yes," I said. "We will. After this."

His only response was to dig his fingers into my shoulders.

I wondered if the combined shyness of both Kazu and the twins would cancel each other out and cause an explosion.

We passed the market and the smoke shop, then by the book store owned by an elderly woman and her equally as elderly mother. I stopped to admire the shakily printed "Book Sale" sign in the window for a second, wondering if I'd live to be as old as the book ladies when the bell on top of the door jingled.

"Shiori?"

I turned. "Yomi?"

She hardly looked like the same person as before, and for a split second, I thought I had gotten the wrong person. Her brown hair was cut short and framed her face, and she had gone beyond the impossible and actually filled out more than she had the last time I'd seen her. In short, she looked amazing, and could definitely pass for a supermodel if the ninja thing failed.

And judging by her toned arms and legs, it hadn't.

Yomi shifted the books she was holding to her left arm, which I saw was covered in a rather cool tattoo of a lotus flower.

As I stood there, looking at her, I started to cry. I stood there like a blubbering idiot, and sobbed.

–

Turns out Yomi's boobs were the perfect place to cry into after crashing under the weight of all of your emotions. To my surprise, she hadn't turned me away or said that we weren't friends anymore. Instead, she waited patiently for me to finish weeping like a child, and made me a cup of tea with her adorable tea kettle in her adorable kitchen in her adorable apartment.

All cried out, I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and looked at the wooden floor, ashamed.

"How have you been, Shiori?"

She crossed her legs. Not knowing how to answer, I instead looked over at Kazu, who was sitting on the floor and playing with Yomi's cat.

Quietly, I said, "I've been fine, I guess."

Yomi cracked a smile. "You're such a bad liar. I can tell by the tired look in your eyes and the bandage on your head that you aren't."

The deductions of a true detective.

"You're pretty popular around here, you know," said Yomi. "Not many people have muddled around with S-ranked criminals and _lived._ I was beginning to think that you defaulted from the village, but I guess that isn't so."

She eyed my headband before resting her head on her hand.

Yomi seemed so different than from a couple years ago. So mature, so grown up, so obviously had her shit together.

My self confidence sank to negative levels just being in her presence.

After a few moments of silence, she spoke again. "What's up? Tell me why you're sad."

I opened and closed my mouth a few times, trying to find the right words. More tears flowed from my eyes and it felt like I might vomit again.

I did.

Except with words.

And Yomi listened to every word of it.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

–

A Little TLC

–

The word vomit stopped after 5 minutes, and a long silence followed. Yomi stared at me, studying my face, and after a few moments she sighed.

"Oh what am I going to do with you," she said. "That's an exciting life you got there."

I knew she was being sarcastic, at least I hoped so. The last thing I needed was for someone to undermine the complete and utter chaos that had been my life for the past 3 years. My daily headache had returned, and I placed the palm of my hand on my forehead. As if that would do anything.

Yomi squeezed my shoulder. "But, as always, I'll help you with your boy troubles."

I managed to laugh at that. "Thanks."

"But Shiori, I honestly don't think he's good for you. I've never seen you so drained. And—"

I cut her off with, "I'm sorry Yomi."

She suddenly leaned over and wrapped her arms around my neck, rivaling Kazu in grip strength. "I'm sorry too."

Kazu, from the floor, made a displeased noise. When Yomi returned to her seat, he climbed into my lap and resumed his position as resident spider monkey.

Maybe Yomi hugging me made him jealous.

Yomi laughed and asked, "Who is this, by the way? Your new boyfriend?"

"No. He's, well, it's a long story. But I rescued him from a fire."

She poked his cheek, sending a smile his way. "He's a cutie."

Kazu didn't respond.

I sighed and rubbed my head again. Having Kazu around my neck was getting pretty tiring, and the nail marks in my skin were beginning to burn with every new addition. But how could I tell him not to? His legs _were _pretty burned from the fire.

"Back to your boy problems!" said Yomi, going to the refrigerator and pulling out a carton of milk. She poured two glasses, and set one in front of Kazu.

He frowned at it before slowly taking a sip.

"Tell me about how he acts towards you."

I looked up to the ceiling, wondering where to begin. I also wondered if I would start to cry again. Shrugging, I said, "I don't know. Sometimes he's nice, and sometimes he's cold. And when he's cold, sometimes he hits me or something but I pretty much hold my ground. That's still not good, is it?"

Yomi's eyes dropped down to the table for a second before returning to me. "No, it isn't."

"Well," I continued. "Sometimes I think he loves me, and sometimes I think he hates me. Sometimes I think it's both. I think all the time, though, that _I'm _the one with the real problem. Who falls for their original kidnapper?"

"Shiori, I don't think we can help who we fall for. It's not something you can decide. But you _can_ decide on whether or not you're making the right choice."

She finished the glass of milk, all in one gulp, and sighed.

I was stunned at how mature Yomi had become. When we were still teenagers, she'd tell me that falling for a bad boy was cool, and that she was jealous of me.

Yomi rested her head on her arm and waved her hand at me. "Go on."

"I like when he isn't cold though—and when he isn't being a pervert. It's like, underneath that deranged criminal psyche, sexual depravity, and obsession with art, there's a nice person. But I don't think i'll ever get to see it again."

"Well," Yomi said. "When have you seen 'it'?"

I nearly grinned at the memory. "When he smiled a real smile."

For a second, Yomi's eyes got a far off look, and I thought she'd revert back to her boy crazy days. I didn't want her to.

I liked new, big sister Yomi.

Her eyes returned to normal, and she smiled. "That's kind of adorable. But!" She sat upright, her voice getting serious.

"This is still a situation that needs to be handled delicately," she said sternly. "Not only is it very dangerous, it has also destroyed your reputation and any other credibility you have. You were on the _Most Wanted _List as an accomplice to the Akatsuki, and they have proof of you wearing the cloak."

I bit my lip and lowered my gaze. I hadn't realized how much dirt the village had on me. No wonder I got so many dirty looks and sneers from people.

They saw me as a traitor.

"I'm going to have a stroke," I groaned. "This is too much for me to handle."

Nodding, Yomi stood, motioning for me to do the same. I sat Kazu down on the fluffy carpet and followed Yomi into her bathroom, where she stood behind me at the mirror.

"Lookit your face," she said while squeezing my cheeks. "You're so pretty, Shiori! But you can hardly see it behind the bags and the tired, weary look in your eyes. And your hair is not soft at all. I'm surprised you have any left."

Looking in the mirror, I saw what she meant. There were dark circles under my eyes, which were looking a darker gray nowadays. They were wet and swollen from my crying earlier, and lacked the shine that they had when I was younger.

My split ends were as bad as ever, and my hair felt coarse and stiff.

I was falling apart.

"I can help you out!" Yomi exclaimed. "I'm not saying looks are all that matters, but you could definitely use a hair treatment. Although I probably know why your hair is in such a condition. Hibari-Sensei told me you were living like a wild child during training."

I snorted. Yomi unraveled my ponytail holder and my hair fell around my face, some of it sticking in random directions. She shook her head and began to run through it with a thick comb, much to my chagrin.

"Yomi, watch the stitches!" I yelped as she nearly nicked the spot. My head began to throb once more and I sighed heavily.

Slowly, she worked at the ends. "It sounds like you're crazy in love, Shiori. And that isn't necessarily a bad thing, just take care not to end up like a certain pair of star crossed lovers."

I sighed, for the millionth time that day. "I think we are star crossed. Doomed from the start."

Yomi laughed. "Well," she said. "Once again, I really think this is a reckless choice and it's taking a toll on your physical and mental health. So I have two things to say: One, either he needs to step up and realize how much he's hurting you, or two, you need to say goodbye and go your separate ways."

She didn't say anything else after that, continuing to work out the knots and tangles in my hair. I stood there, mulling over everything she'd said to me and trying desperately to get it together, and figure out what was the right thing for me to do.

As she was washing my hair in the sink, a personal question popped out of her mouth.

"How's the sex? Er.._was."_

I didn't answer immediately, but I knew Yomi was the only person I would ever think of discussing such affairs with. Sighing once, I rolled my eyes. I would strategically leave out the third time, where I wasn't a willing participant.

"Well the first time, it hurt. A lot. And all he did to reassure me was tell me to be quiet, or else someone would hear."

Yomi giggled.

"The second time," I said with a weary pause. "Was nice. But it probably would have been nicer if I wasn't so awkward."

"No!" yelled Yomi suddenly. "I need more details than that. You suck at telling stories."

Frowning, I tried to find words to add description to my "story."

Waving her hand, Yomi said, "Was it emotional for the two of you? How good is he? Y'know, _details."_

I frowned more still. "I'm sure he's probably had sex with a hundred women, so obviously gifted in the art—he did all of the work anyway. I just...kind of..lay there. And the whole time he kept suggesting positions and weird things to do, but I had no idea what he was talking about. And we fell off the bed at the end."

Yomi raised an eyebrow. "What?" she asked. "He came so hard he fell off of the bed?"

"Yomi!" My face flushed at her term usage, and it was then that I knew how much of a child I was. Seeing my expression, Yomi gave me a smack on the arm.

"Oh grow up, you."

She rinsed the shampoo out my hair, raking her nails through it and barely missed my stitches again. Aside from the dull throbbing pain, having someone's hand running through my hair was the most wonderful feeling.

I wondered if Yomi would mind if I pretended that, at that moment, her hands were Deidara's.

–

I left Yomi's apartment, even more exhausted, but with the benefit of my hair feeling much softer than before. I needed desperately to be at home in bed, but the most important matter would be to go to my parent's house and face their wrath.

And wrath was exactly what I got.

It was Hibari-sensei who greeted me as soon as I walked into the always unlocked back door, and I cringed at his glare.

"When will you stop running away unannounced?" cried my mother from the kitchen table. Her tiny fingers were drumming against what I assumed to be her tenth cup of coffee. She stood and marched over to me, but stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed Kazu's sleeping form in my arms.

"Who is this?" both her and Hibari-sensei asked.

I opened my mouth to answer, immediately closing it again when my dad entered the room. Cold faced as usual, he folded his arms and leaned against the doorframe. With so many eyes on me, I started to get uncomfortable.

"Well, the thing is—"

Mom interrupted me with, "You weren't chasing that cretin were you?"

After many seconds of silent defiance, I caved in. "Yes."

Hibari-Sensei pulled out a chair for me at the table, and I sat, eyes boring straight through the wood surface. "Now," he said. "Explain."

I cursed the fact that he had gotten so friendly with my parents—it'd be less eyes staring at me without him in the kitchen.

Sighing, I opened my mouth for another round of word vomit. "Well I figured I could at least try and fight him because he's always treating me like a little kid that always needs to be protected so I figured, why not show him how strong I had gotten? So I followed some hints to Cinder Town and got captured by these punks in bandanas and I met Kazu here—this is Kazu. Kazu took me to him, he was hiding in a tree. We agreed on a fight date, but he blew up the base Kazu was at—and Kazu was burned really badly. His jerk of a dad thought I was the "Fox Woman" and started flipping out, then a beam fell and squashed him like a bug—so! I took Kazu with me because it was an abusive household and he's a cute little cherub and I didn't want to leave him. We went to a nice hotel so I could rest before my fight with Deidara, and I ended up knocking myself out and splitting my head open and losing a lot of blood and he took me back to the village and I yelled at him for being a prick all the time and now i'm here."

Inhaling sharply, I looked at their faces. Hibari-Sensei's eyebrows had risen in surprise, Mom was frantically adding more sugar to her coffee, and Dad was giving me the evil eye like always. Finally, someone spoke.

"So, _Kazu," _said Mom slowly. "This is Kazu. Shiori, you can't just take children because you think they're cute!"

"But _Mom!" _Suddenly I was a kid again. "You don't understand! He was in a house full of gang members and his legs got all burned because of because of—him and I couldn't leave him there!"

Kazu stirred. His nails dug into my neck, and he stiffened like a frightened cat.

"Kazu," I whispered. " It's okay, It's me."

He relaxed and looked around at everyone, frowning when my mom smiled at him.

"He's shy," I said.

Hibari-Sensei's eyebrows finally lowered back to starting position and he sighed loudly.

"Alright, apprentice. Be ready for morning training first thing next week."

He gave me one more stern look before saying his goodbyes and leaving the house. I had a feeling training would be extra brutal.

Mom drained her cup of coffee with shaky hands and wide eyes. She continued to stare at me as she poured herself a new one. Her blue hair was messily compiled into a bun and she was wearing mismatched socks.

She looked wild.

My fault, I guessed.

"Shiori," she said calmly. "You are forbidden to leave the village for the entire summer."

My mouth fell open. "What? You're grounding me!"

She nodded.

"But i'm twenty years old! I'll be twenty one this fall!"

She shrugged. "Being an adult, and acting like an adult are two different things. You have yet to prove to me that you can be trusted going anywhere outside the village boundaries."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked, sounding offended.

She took a giant sip of coffee and closed her eyes. "It means that, if I see you in the newspapers again for lollygagging around with criminals I will drag you back here kicking and screaming and lock you in a cage."

Pouting, I mumbled, "I don't lollygag with criminals on purpose you know."

"Let me guess, it's something I won't understand."

Ding Ding Ding! Correct!

From the doorway, my father decided to pitch in. "You're not to leave the village."

They both left me in the pale blue kitchen, pouting and fuming inside like a child.

"I''m still gonna."

My headache returned with a vengeance, the pain enough for me to cry out. Kazu rubbed the side of my head with his hand and said, "Let's go back, Takamiya. We can still go to the market."

I nodded, eyes closed.

"Okay."

"Shiori!" came two voices in unison from the hall. The sound of four feet come echoing through the hall as they got closer to the kitchen. Ami and Ichiru, the Twin Monsters, rushed over to me with smiles on their faces. And just as everyone else did, they stopped short once catching sight of Kazu.

Ami spoke first. "Who's this, Shiori?"

I was so tired by that point I didn't care to answer her. Nevertheless, I said quietly, "This is Kazu. I'm taking care of him for now."

"Is he your son?" Ichiru asked, trying to get a good look at Kazu's face. Ami put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes.

"No, _stupid. _Shiori didn't have a big round watermelon tummy!"

Before they could start arguing, I put a hand out to stop them.

"No fighting you guys." My voice was little over a whisper. I feared I might pass out before I could make it home. Giving my parents anymore things to worry about would be fantastic. The twins leaned over to look me over, and instantly their facial expressions turned solemn.

Now they were worrying about me too?

Ichiru felt my forehead. "You're really pale, Shiori. And you're sweating. Are you hot?"

I shook my head—ever so often, i'd feel a slight chill, something I felt whenever I was about to get a fever. That was exactly what I needed—to be feverish and exhausted and in pain.

I decided that it was time to go, and promptly stood on quivering legs. The door seemed so far away from where I stood, like it would take me hours to reach it.

Staring at it longingly, I almost forgot where I was and what I was doing.

"I'm gonna go now, guys. Okay? I'll be back tomorrow."

They both groaned in unison as I shuffled tiredly out of the back door.

Outside, the sun was beginning to set. The pinkish orange color of the sky suddenly made me have a taste for shaved ice, but cold foods would do nothing but make my headache worse.

As I ambled towards the market street once more, it was clear by the constant blurring of my vision that going to buy groceries would be near impossible.

Kazu, even though he was light as air, was beginning to feel like a sack of cinderblocks cradled in my arms.

"Okay, Kazu." I stopped walking, leaning on a gate post to steady myself. "Do you think you can walk? I'm too tired to carry you."

He looked down at the ground like a vicious attack dog was waiting for him, and nodded hesitantly.

I didn't want to make him walk if his legs were still sore from the burns, but I figured me dropping him onto the street would hurt a tad bit worse. I added a tired, "It's okay if you can't," and moved to hoist him up better.

He shook his head and wriggled out of my grip. Once on solid ground he stood on his tiptoes inside his wooden geta sandals, which, couldn't have possibly been comfortable to walk in for long periods of time.

"You got it?" I asked, watching him wobble around like a baby giraffe. Despite the obvious discomfort Kazu was experiencing, he shook his head 'no' and tried to walk forward. I watched him with slight amusement, wondering how far he would get before giving up.

He made it past the book shop before turning to me, big wet tears rolling down his face.

Trying not to laugh, I scooped him up with some difficulty. "It's okay!" I said, smiling. "You did good. We can try again later."

And so we pressed on, moving through the market street, which had significantly less people in it than earlier. We passed Mr. Saito's stand—the delicious scent of the meat grilling was intoxicating.

"Hey!" came Mr. Saito's deep voice from behind me. I turned my head to face him, but saw no one.

"Mr. Saito?"

After a few seconds, he appeared from inside his shop carrying a plastic bag.

"I have something for your little friend here! Don't open it till you get home. And you better hurry home, security's been amped up ten fold since the Akatsuki were seen in the village a while back. They've been instructed to arrest you on sight, Shiori."

Taken aback, I stepped closer to him. "What? Why?"

Mr. Saito sighed. "Well," he said. "I suspect it has to do with the 'Mighty Lordship' being frightened of what he says to be your..'connections.'"

I rolled my eyes. Figures our village would be headed by someone so arrogant, he'd make everyone call him something as cheesy as "Mighty Lordship."

I would be counting the days when he'd be replaced by someone who knew how to lead a village. Someone who everyone didn't fear. Someone who didn't send tons of innocent shinobi to jail without proper trials.

Mr. Saito placed a callused hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. " I wouldn't worry about it much, kiddo. Even if you were arrested, you'd be safe."

"How do you figure that?" I asked.

"Well, he's a huge coward behind that tough facade, and he's terrified of the Akatsuki."

Frowning, I asked, "How does that keep me safe?"

Quietly, Mr. Saito replied, "He thinks that you're protected by them, and harming you would set the Akatsuki on the village. OR rather, on _him."_

I nearly laughed. How amazing would it be if black robe clad criminals came to my aid whenever I was in distress? Like superheroes! As far as I knew, it'd take a miracle for any one of them to even _think _of coming to my aid.

After saying thank you and goodbye to Mr. Saito, I laughed all the way home.

–

I woke up at noon the next day, no less tired and exhausted than the day before. Rubbing my eyes, I moved to an upright position. The tiny curled up form beside me shifted, and Kazu poked his head out from under the covers. His eyelids were heavy, he could hardly keep them open yet he looked as if he'd stay awake just because I was.

"You can go back to sleep," I whispered, patting his head. Immediately, he retreated back under the covers and was silent.

I wished I hadn't waken up for at least a few more hours—closed eyelids meant dreams, and I dreamed of Deidara. In my dreams, he was like a prince out of children's storybooks—the kind that treated a girl like she was made of gold. We never fought or argued, and we could go out and about without anyone coming to arrest us. Every morning he made me breakfast, and every night he gave me massages, because I got muscle pains from being such an accomplished and skilled kunoichi.

My lip trembled. If only it was that easy. If only, If only.

I turned quickly to look at Kazu, wiping my eyes furiously to get rid of the small tears. Just as I expected, he was peeking up at me through the covers.

"Are you okay?" he asked. I wondered how many times i'd be asked that by him.

"Yes," I lied quickly, standing on shaky legs.

Kazu sat up fully, sporting dark blue pajamas—Ichiru's old pair. They were a little big on him, but it was better than nothing.

"I think you should stay in bed, Takamiya," he said, patting the spot next to him.

I thought so too, but I felt as if I couldn't afford to stay in bed all day, even though I could hardly stand.

My legs giving out, I flopped back down on the bed. The soft sheets felt like the finest of silk, and I nearly clocked out.

Kazu played with my hair as I drifted in and out of consciousness, and I used the time to put together the buzzing bees in my head.

Part of me wanted to know more about the Akatsuki, to know more than I already did. I wanted to know what they did specifically, to know why they did what they did—and how they were formed. I didn't really know what I expected to get from this. Was it some kind of closure?

It didn't matter. As soon as I felt up to it, I decided i'd head straight for every document about the Akatsuki. Odd jobs weren't a bad idea, considering I was still on probation and couldn't do any missions for money. Maybe doing things would help me take my mind off of Deidara, and not thinking about him meant that maybe I could go another long period of time with no panic attacks.

And that meant turning back into normal Shiori—the Shiori that existed before her life went to hell.


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry if this is getting pretty boring...but boring stuff always leads to excitement!**

* * *

Chapter Fifteen

–

A Fried Egg Panic

–

I lugged myself out of bed a whopping 5 days later, feeling slightly less horrible and a tiny bit restless. The back alley surgery on my head had been bothering me less often, and I guessed that the stitches would have to come out soon.

Kazu had surprisingly taken my being bedridden in stride. He never complained about being stuck inside all day (save for one instance where he gave me attitude whenever I talked to him, and refused to come out from under the covers). His legs were doing better thanks to the medicine I had to continuously apply, and I reassured him that he'd be walking in no time.

"Okay," he had told me quietly, and that was the end of that. Sometimes I wondered about Kazu, about why he was so withdrawn, and formal. It was no surprise, thanks to his previous living environment and all, but I worried about how much it had negatively affected him. He never opened up to me, and tried to do everything on his own—a problem because of his size and general naivete about the world outside of his smog infested town.

I sighed, blowing hair out of my face and trudged to the bathroom for a quick bath. I felt like my body was lagging, like everything was in slow motion.

After leaving the bathroom, I made my way into the kitchen and checked the fridge for anything edible. A carton of eggs and a half empty bottle of soy sauce decorated the otherwise empty shelves.

"Fried eggs it is."

Turning, I called, "Kazuuu. Do you like fried eggs?"

After a brief moment of silence, he replied, "What's a fried egg?"

Wow.

Scratching my damp head, I went back to my bedroom, where Kazu was sitting upright in bed. I sat down next to him and he crawled over to me. "You've never eaten a fried egg? It's just...a fried egg."

"Is that what comes out of chickens? We never ate eggs at home."

Stifling a laugh, I nodded. "Yes," I said. "Eggs come from chickens. And other birds. But I only eat chicken eggs."

Kazu nodded slowly, eyebrows furrowed together as if in intense thought. I had no idea that eggs were such a difficult subject to comprehend.

Holding out my hand, I asked, "Want to come watch me cook them?"

As expected, he replied with a quiet, "Okay."

In the kitchen, Kazu continued to hang on my every word, nodding ever so often as I explained the many different ways to cook an egg.

"—I only know how to fry them though. My mom makes the best poached eggs though. Next time she makes 'em, I'll share with you."

"Am I going to stay here forever, Takamiya?"

The egg sizzled in the pan. I looked over to Kazu, sitting on the counter, his big eyes boring directly into mine.

"I don't know," I said honestly, watching the egg fry itself. "I can take you back to Cinder Town if you want. I don't wanna force you to be here."

_I just thought I was doing a good deed._

Kazu shook his head. "I like it here, Takamiya. You're nice to me. And I can see without my mask. I didn't know the sky was that color."

He sounded so awestruck and innocent—it pushed me over the edge. Nearly knocking the carton of eggs to the floor, I leaned over and scooped him up in a tight hug.

"You're so cute," I squealed into his hair. "Cutecutecute."

He was like a limp doll in my arms. Maybe he didn't want me to hug him.

"I'm sorry," I said quickly, embarrassed. He wasn't a puppy.

"The egg is burning," he said, pointing to the pan.

Sure enough, the once delicious looking egg had been reduced to a dark brown mass.

The smell made my nose turn up. I sighed once and turned off the stove, before helping Kazu down onto the floor. For some reason, the egg burning drastically lowered my spirits. I suddenly felt like disappearing into my bedsheets for another 5 days. That wouldn't do any good, I decided, and it'd only make me feel worse.

I noticed I had gone back into my bedroom, standing at the foot of the bed.

Kazu called after me from the kitchen.

"I want to try eggs, Takamiya."

"Right.."

With a sigh and a dent in my demeanor, I made my way back to the kitchen.

–

"You're late!" barked Hibari-Sensei loudly over a newspaper.

He was in the usual spot for our morning training sessions—an open clearing in the woods that had three identical paths, two of which led to the beach.

The final path led to the secret hot springs. I still hadn't told anyone about it.

"I know i'm late," I said, rolling my eyes. "But I had to leave Kazu over my parents' house and he wouldn't let go of me long enough for me to leave the house!"

Hibari-Sensei chuckled and folded the newspaper up, throwing it down on the ground beside him. The front page picture caught my eye: a blurry photo of something I couldn't quite make out, with the headline "Akatsuki Still in Pursuit of Jinchuriki."

" 'Jinchuriki?'" I looked at Hibari-Sensei in confusion. He raised an eyebrow in reply.

"Don't you know about them, Shiori? I assumed you of all people would know of the Akatsuki's master plan."

"Hmm." I read the rest of the article. Maybe I had known about the Akatsuki's plan. But if I did, I couldn't for the life of me remember it.

"It says they've gotten a few already.."

Hibari-Sensei nodded. "Sure have. It'd be quite a problem if they managed to harness the power of all ten. So! Shall we get down to business?"

Ignoring him, I sat down on the soft grass, still holding the newspaper. I was trying to rack my brain for the word 'Jinchuriki' and what it meant. Considering all of the reading i'd done when I was younger, I knew it was in there somewhere.

Unfortunately, Hibari-Sensei interrupted by smacking me in the head with the rolled up newspaper. "Focus, Shiori!"

"_Fine."_

He sighed and said, "If you cooperate today, i'll treat you to lunch."

"Anything I want?"

"Anything you want."

I corrected myself. "_Everything _I want?"

"Alright."

"Kazu can come too."

"He can come too. Yes."

I could practically hear his wallet crying out in pain for what was coming, but the mere thought of going back to the 'Clouds' was enough to make me care less.

We trained well into late afternoon, the only factor keeping us from continuing being the fresh black eye appearing on my face. It hadn't slowed me down much, but Hibari-Sensei insisted we stop.

I nearly danced around him as we left the training grounds. My stomach felt like it'd collapsed into itself. "I'll go get Kazu!" I said, starting off towards the north side of town. "Meet me at the Clouds!"

"Shouldn't you get cleaned up first?" Hibari-Sensei called after me. "You're sweating buckets."

"Right.." I looked down at myself. "That'd make sense. Be right back!"

As I jogged away, I felt the happiest I had in weeks. Not only was I being treated to everything I wanted, but I also learned something new about what 'jinchuriki' were. I made a note to go dig a little deeper when I had the time.

At my parent's house, I was greeted by my mother pouring another cup of coffee. She glanced over at me as I entered the kitchen, quite different from her usual reaction to whenever I came over.

"How was morning training?" she asked, putting spoonful after spoonful of sugar into the cup.

"Fine," I replied, looking down at the brown glop that her coffee was becoming. She smoothed her skirt and sat down at the kitchen table. I noticed her fingers were trembling.

I felt bad almost immediately. Was it my fault that she was so stressed out? After all, I was forever branded as someone who waltzed around with criminals and didn't reveal any info about them—a traitor. Not to be trusted. I doubted that i'd ever get off probation.

It was a depressing thought.

Mom looked over towards the doorway to the living room and sighed. She was always talkative when I came to visit.

"Um," I started, feeling awkward. "So how's Kazu?"

She took a sip of coffee. "Oh. As soon as you left this morning he wet himself. In fear, I assumed. He's really attached to you, Shiori."

Laughing I reclined in the hard kitchen chair. "Yeah I guess he is. I don't see why though. Maybe it's because I saved him?"

Mom shrugged and took another sip. "Shall I get him for you?"

"Yeah, that'd be great. How are the monsters?"

Rolling her eyes, she made her way into the hall. "They're playing with their friends. You shouldn't call them that."

She returned with Kazu, who by this time was a sad lump of a child, all cried out and wearing new clothes. He clutched his toy cat possessively as if it was the only thing that was keeping him sane, only loosening his grip when he saw me sitting in the kitchen. Running over to me on wobbly legs, he dove straight into my lap, his hands immediately clutching my shirt.

"Hey Kazu," I said happily.

"I'm hungry," he replied blankly.

Mom chuckled and sat back down in front of her coffee mug. "I've been offering him food all morning, but he wouldn't take any."

I looked down at Kazu and wondered when he would stop being so difficult. It would definitely become a problem in the future, but could also be useful asset. Kazu looked like the type to never reveal information if interrogated. The silent and stealthy type. Well, if he decided to be a ninja anyway.

Turning to Mom, I said, "Well, I should be going. Sensei's waiting for me, and I smell gross."

I expected my usual goodbye hug, but instead I received a smile and a nod. The flame of my excitement wavered, and I left the house without a word.

–

I ended up with a killer stomachache by the end of the day and could barely sit upright without wanting to vomit. Usually I could stomach so much more food than a simple two bowls of fried rice, a delicious assortment of beautiful sashimi, six potstickers, three beef skewers, an entire fried squid, and steamed mackerel over plain rice. It was as if I was making up for all of the food I didn't eat while being held captive. Hopefully I wouldn't grow lazy again and start to gain weight.

Kazu on the other hand, made me feel like the biggest glutton on the planet, eating only a bowl of fried rice with egg.

Luckily though, I stopped by the book shop owned by the little old ladies and bought every book I could afford on 'Jinchuriki', also managing to snag a book titled 'Akatsuki: What Danger Do They Pose To _You?' _

And with my remaining cash I bought a picture book for Kazu, who "pretended" to not like said book by holding it and not letting it go.

I was penniless, but I was going to make up for it with knowledge.

So curled up in my fluffy warm comforter, I opened the first book and got to reading.

From the doorway, Kazu stood clutching his cat toy and stared.

"Um."

He shifted from foot to foot, obviously not wanting to be standing at all.

"Kazu, you can come in without asking. I don't mind. As long as the door's open, it's fine."

The second I finished talking, Kazu crossed the room and pulled himself up into my bed. He curled up into a little ball and looked up at me, eyes as big and wide as always.

It was hard to read anything more than a few sentences at a time without feeling extremely uncomfortable for being watched.

"Kazu," I said, turning to him. "Do you want something?"

"No."

He continued to stare, and I grew nervous. His silent staring was more unsettling than Deidara's, and that was saying something.

"Kazu, that's really unsettling."

"What is?"

"Staring. It's not very polite."

"Oh. Okay."

Thankfully, Kazu turned his attention to his cat stuffed animal, turning it around in his hands and holding it above his head. To distract him more, I handed over the tv remote. He flipped through the channels aimlessly before settling on a kids show with lion puppets.

"I've never watched these before," he added, his voice dripping with wonder.

"A television? Why not?"

"Papa wouldn't let me watch it. He said it was full of um..poro-grap-hee?"

I snorted. "Pornography?"

Kazu nodded once before being consumed by the magic that was talking lion puppets reading books. At least it was educational. While he watched, I read my books, stopping only when the last page of the last book was done.

Sighing, I piled the books on the night table and stood. After closing my bedroom door and pulling off my food-scented clothing, I took refuge back in my bed and closed my eyes.

Despite how tired I was, I couldn't quite sleep. All I could do was think about what I had read, and how awful some of it was. I couldn't possibly imagine how it would feel to harbor such powerful creatures, and even worse, to be sought by a group of rogue ninja bent on extracting the power from you.

For world domination.

It was a scary thought. Much worse than I had expected, and I began to see the Akatsuki in a new light. Sure, off-duty they were a little goofy and drank and messed around, but I hadn't even seen them in serious mode.

Except for Deidara. I would never forget the tiny amount of criminal that I had seen that day when I tried to escape, nor would I forget the searing pain of the burns from his bomb.

Somewhere in my head, a thought that went along the lines of 'They should be stopped' floated about, hesitant about coming forth.

As the minutes passed by, my mind wandered to Deidara—I'd probably dream of him again.

I wondered where he was, and what he was doing. Was he preening and primping himself like a cat, or was he beating some poor defenseless civilian in a back alley somewhere?

I missed him.

And that sort of made me feel sick inside.

Taking deep breaths and wringing my hands, I tried to calm down enough to prevent another panic attack. And after the entirety of the situation came to light as I laid in bed, I started to panic anyway.

I was afraid.

Afraid for me, afraid for Deidara, afraid for the Jinchuriki, afraid for Kazu, and afraid for my family.

Shiori. Me. I was probably the only person to be inside of the Akatsuki hideout and escape with my memories intact. What if the idiot 'shadow king' wasn't the only one paranoid about me. What if all of the village leaders thought me important? Or a threat?

What if they were after me.

It was too late—my first panic attack in over a year had started, and there was no stopping until someone calmed me down. Something told me Kazu wouldn't be able to be that person.

"Takamiya?"

Great. I had woken him up, despite both my hands being clamped over my mouth to muffle my heavy breathing.

With my back turned to him, I removed my hands from my mouth so I could try and speak. "Kazu, go and get someone," finally came out, but it sounded like a loud shriek. It wasn't until the sound of his steps faded into quiet, did I realize how stupid of a request it was. It was after midnight, and I had just sent a five year old outside by himself to go get help.

Hopefully he wouldn't bring back a pervert.

Hopefully he'd come back.

Almost 10 minutes went by, and I still hadn't calmed down. Even worse, I had started to scream—the worst part of my panic attacks. It felt like I was no longer in control of my actions, and the noise wouldn't stop coming out of my mouth.

Someone would probably think I was being murdered.

But if it got them over to my apartment, I wouldn't mind.

"Takamiya!"

I jumped at the sound of Kazu's voice, and judging by the heavy footsteps, he had found someone to help.

A callused hand brushed my hair out of my face, and another wrestled my arm away from my pillow, where I had been gripping it fiercely.

I couldn't see through my tears the face of my 'caresser', but their hands felt familiar and that began to calm me.

Kazu spoke again: "Is she gonna be okay?"

"Mm-hm," replied the person above me. It was a male's voice, and I immediately recognized it as belonging to Makoto.

So Kazu hadn't brought back a complete stranger. Good.

"Shiori? Can you sit up?" Before I could answer, Makoto had pulled me up into a sitting position. He gasped, and I knew why.

I was clad in only panties—normal summer sleepwear when nearly every article of clothing had been worn already. There was no time to be embarrassed over exposed boobs(and I definitely would be later), and the only thing on my mind was to stop shaking.

Luckily Makoto seemed to get over it pretty fast and wrapped the covers back around me. I wanted to lie down again, my stomach was threatening to burst and I felt queasy. Makoto awkwardly rubbed my head, and quietly said things that i'm sure he thought were reassuring.

After about 5 minutes of this, my breathing slowed and my shaking stopped. I released my grip of Makoto's shirt and wiped my eyes. My hands felt horribly cramped. Shirts should never be gripped that tightly.

"Are you okay?" Makoto asked quietly.

I didn't answer, taking the time to look up at him. His hair was no longer blocking his eyes from view, hair clips keeping it from falling out of place. He hadn't gotten any less cute, much to my dismay, and he now sported a healthy tan from being out in the sun.

I never tanned easily, I just burned and I envied Makoto's ability. Almost as much as I envied Deidara's silky hair.

Almost.

Kazu climbed up into my lap and wrapped his arms around my neck, looking defensively at Makoto. "Go away," he said. "Takamiya's okay now."

"Uh.."

"It's okay, Kazu," I said, wrapping the sheets tighter around me. "He's a friend of mine." Lucky for both of us, Makoto happened to be near. I probably wouldn't have been able to fight off a pervert in a panicked state.

Sighing, I leaned against Makoto. He tensed for a split second before relaxing and

placing an arm around my shoulder. Kazu didn't seem to like that, kicking at Makoto with one leg and sqeezing my neck tighter. When this didn't work, he started to cry.

Giant warm tears dripped down his cheeks, staining his pajama shirt.

I looked at Makoto apologetically.

"Sorry."

Laughing, he replied. "No problem. If you're okay, I can go."

I didn't want him to leave, not after going an entire year without seeing him. Figures the first time he sees me i'm topless and having a panic attack. I pried Kazu from around my neck and set him under the fluffy comforter on my bed. He huffed and folded his arms defiantly, glaring at Makoto the entire time.

It didn't matter to me that Kazu was upset. I just wanted to be in someone's company whom I could hold conversations with.

"No," I said. "You should stay a few more minutes."

Makoto nodded. "Okay. I can't stay long though, I was on the way to Yomi's place."

I perked up. "Yomi? Why?"

It was late, really late. Why would he be going to Yomi's place now of all times?

Makoto scratched the back of his neck and looked me dead in the eyes, as if what he was about to say was extremely important.

"She's my girlfriend."

Oh.

"Oh."

I was surprised. I guessed a lot had happened in the year I was gone. Before I could ask more about the couple-ing of my friends, Makoto stood and looked at the doorway.

"I'd better be going Shiori," he said. "I'm late."

I opened my mouth to tell him that it most certainly had not been a few minutes and that he couldn't leave yet, but nothing came out.

"Call me if you need anything, i'll be right over." He smiled. "It's nice to have you back, Shiori."

Attempting what I hoped was a smile, I watched him leave the room and sent Kazu after him to lock the door.

When Kazu returned, he angrily stared at me from the pillow next to mine.

"What?"

He replied with a displeased noise and continued to stare.

Boys were difficult, no matter what the age.


	16. Chapter 16

_Alright everyone: format change. I'm going to change the writing style from "I walked away slowly" to "I walk away slowly." Even though its so late into this, it is much easier to write. (Totally prepared to lose the few readers I have haha)._

_And honestly, I really want to redo the entire first two stories because I think they are awfully written. But that's too much time, and it wouldn't work really I don't think, since this one is the third. Bluuuuhhh_

_Maybe I will revamp this entire shindig_

_Who knows_

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

–

Little Lamb

–

It's three in the morning when I wake up sweating. My hair is plastered to my forehead and my pillow is damp. It was yet another dream about Deidara, although this one had nothing to do with my apparent raging lust for him for a change.

The violent images of him killing my entire family are still fresh in my mind, so I abandon sleep for now.

Next to me, Kazu is curled into a ball under the covers. He always sleeps soundly, I noticed. Never having nightmares or calling out to me in his sleep.

He suddenly pokes his head out from under the covers. Speak of the devil.

"Takamiya?" he says. His eyes are still closed, and for a second I wonder if he's still asleep.

"Yes?"

Eyes still closed, Kazu crawls into my lap and buries his head in my chest. I'm reminded of the twins when they were smaller and would have bad dreams. Every single time they would crawl into my bed and take the same position. And every time i'd slowly rock back and forth until they went back to sleep.

"Did you have a bad dream?" I ask.

He nods. His fingers dig into my skin, gripping so hard I'm a little afraid for both his fingers, and the safety of my chest.

"Kazu." I pry his hands away. "Don't grip so hard. You'll hurt yourself."

_And me._

Kazu shakes his head and tries to wrench his hands away from me, but isn't strong enough. This upsets him, and he begins to whine. I begin to do what I did to the twin monsters so many times.

I rock back and forth, humming the lullaby that he had been singing that day on the couch. After a few minutes, he relaxes, and is back in dream land.

If only it was that easy for me. I didn't have anyone to rock me back to sleep after a nightmare.

–

I wake up again to chaos.

More specifically the sound of crying plus an overpowering foul scent plus the steady banging of fists on the front door. I blink rapidly and sit upright, noticing the source of the smell.

At some point through the night Kazu had vomited all over the bed, coating me and the sheets in sticky awfulness.

I could feel the headache coming on as he continued to screech like a little spider monkey.

"Kazu!"

The crying stops at once.

Then I notice how red his face is. His forehead is burning hot, and his breathing is shallow—not good. I have no idea what to do with sick children, or where to start. The thought of it starts to make me nervous, especially considering how fragile the immune systems of children were. _Take him to Mom and Dad's house, _I think in a panic.

I jump up and half sprint to the bathroom with Kazu in my arms, depositing him in the bathtub. The banging on my door still hasn't stopped, whoever it is must really want my attention.

I look out of the peephole cautiously, expecting to find some bad company. Who else continuously bangs on the door like a maniac? The person is too close to the door for me to recognize anything but a patch of sun-kissed skin.

"Who is it?" I ask.

The voice that answers is that of a female's.

"Shiori! Open up!"

Yomi. I open the door and she stumbles inside, breathing heavily and eyes wide. She slams the door behind her and nervously looks back out of the peephole.

"Shiori you gotta hurry!"

I raise an eyebrow at her. Was she being chased? "What do you mean? What is it?"

I'm starting to get even more nervous, watching her completely lose her cool.

Yomi drags me over to the T.V., paying no attention to the dried puke stuck to my skin, and turns it on. She finds a news channel, and anxiously begins to pace in front of the coffee table.

On the screen, a recording of our village's very own 'Shadow King' is talking about how he had successfully gotten me to expose to him all of the information I had about the Akatsuki, and that it would be useful for an attack on them.

Lies. All of it.

Yomi doesn't wait for the rest of the news story to play before she turns the tv off.

"Do you know what happened after?"

I shake my head. "No. You turned the tv off before I could see."

She grabs my shoulders impatiently and shakes a few times.

"He said that because he figured the Akatsuki would take the bait—he was right! But listen to this: everything he said was _exactly _what you said the day you told me about what happened. All of it."

Yomi pauses, takes a deep breath before continuing.

"And they're coming. They took the bait and they're coming."

I turn the television back on. The Shadow King is indeed spouting things that I have told no one but Yomi, Makoto, and Hibari-Sensei. The details of the hideout I committed to memory. The unique trees in the forest around it. How they frequently switched to avoid suspicion. Things that should never leave the walls of the hideout. Like me.

"How could he—?" I say, slumping down onto the couch. _How _could he have known what I said? I close my eyes and rack my brain, trying to figure out how he had gotten the information. It had to have been someone eavesdropping, but who?

"Shiori I bet one of his guys somehow bugged you," says Yomi. "That's the only way. None of us told. I swear."

The headache comes at full velocity, and I stare at the wall in frustration.

It's then I notice the small black circle stuck to the wall near the television.

The bug.

Yomi reaches it before I do, grabbing the sphere and smashing it under her foot. It fizzles away in a wisp of black smoke.

I had heard about them from my father, who described to me in great detail the lengths our 'Shadow King' went to get information from people and how the bug would be planted on civilians without their knowledge. The bug could stay undetected for weeks, whether it be stuck to the person or hidden in their house. Another reason for me to hate him.

Coughing comes from the bathroom, reminding me of the sick child in the bathtub.

"I'm coming, Kazu, hold on a minute!"

I turn back to Yomi in a panic. "What am I going to do? I can't hold off the Akatsuki!"

My worst nightmare was coming true.

Yomi moves to shake me again. "Shiori!" she shouts. "You can_not _freak out. Calm down or I will slap you. Now go get cleaned up. We have to figure out some things."

I take a quick shower, forcing Kazu to stand completely under the stream to wash the puke out of his hair. He is silent the entire time, letting out a cough now and again.

He won't eat either, refusing the meager fried egg and toast I have to offer. I scarf down both of our helpings, and put my head on the table. My head is pounding

and my heart is beating furiously against my ribcage, threatening to burst out of my chest and land on the kitchen table.

Yomi steps behind me and begins to brush my hair. I'm glad she ditched the threats to slap me.

"Makoto and Hibari-Sensei will be here soon," she says, brushing the bangs off of my forehead. "We've sort of come up with a plan to keep you safe."

I sigh.

"How late am I on this news about the Akatsuki?" I ask drearily.

Yomi replies, "About half a day."

She continues to brush my hair, with neither of us saying anything, until she gasps.

"What?"

"Shiori, does your hair always come out this much when you brush it?" she asks, showing me the copious amount of blue strands on the brush.

I think about it for a second. I find that I never really brush my hair as much as the normal girl (or guy), but the times that I did I never remembered so much coming out.

I shake my head.

Yomi ties my hair up into a messy ball on top of my head and sighs, admiring her work.

"That should hide the bald spot."

"Bald spot?"

My hands shoot up to my head to feel around when more fists pound harshly on my door. Should I have to remind everyone that I was in an apartment building, and did not own the door that was being abused?

Yomi goes over and answers the door, letting in Hibari-Sensei and Makoto. They give me their usual greetings—a smile and a nod from Hibari-Sensei, and an awkward pat on the back from Makoto? I forget the sudden change in greetings, chalking it up to his new relationship with Yomi.

Hibari-Sensei seats himself on top of the table and places a hand on my shoulder.

I appreciate his gesture, but it unfortunately will not stop the stress threatening to give me a stroke.

The three of them begin to talk about the current situation, occasionally looking to me for input. I nod and try to keep up with the conversation, but the throbbing of my head and the dull pain sprouting in my stomach is distracting.

I rub the scar on my stomach gingerly. Another symbol of my idiocy.

"—alright, Shiori?"

I look around in surprise. "Huh? What?"

Yomi clicks her tongue impatiently and folds her arms. "I'll say it again," she huffs. "We think that the best way to deal with this would be to lay low until it blows over. But we're gonna need someone to deal with that stupid Shadow King."

I nod and continue to rub my stomach.

"So are you saying someone needs to take him out?" I ask.

Hibari-Sensei nods. "Or at least shut him up. But the thing is, he's a coward, and it won't take much for him to chicken out and resign."

I roll my eyes. And taunting the Akatsuki is obviously a good decision when you happen to be a big chicken. "Okay," I say tiredly. "It's obvious that the Shadow Moron isn't that big of a threat, and I'm surprised that no one has gotten rid of him sooner. I have the perfect person to shut him up!"

Everyone's eyes are on me. I shrink a little into the chair.

Taking a big breath, I say, "Um..I bet if I asked nicely, I could actually get someone from the Akatsuki to pay him a visit?"

Hibari-Sensei raises his eyebrows in surprise before taking on a look of doubt.

"That's crazy," he says with a dismissive wave of the hand. "Besides, the obvious danger right now is that the Akatsuki could be on their way to kill you at this very moment."

Dejected, I go back to rubbing my stomach. Sure, it was a dumb idea, and I doubt that Deidara would even want anything to do with me anymore but still.

I had a tiny feeling that he would be the one sent to kill me.

I glance at Yomi, noticing that she's staring at me through the corner of her eyes.

"Ohh," she says. "Your little boyfriend? I think we should listen to her, Hibari-Sensei. I would _love _to see Mister Blondie again." Her voice takes on a suggestive tone and she winks, making me giggle into the table.

Jokes aside, I was almost confident that if I managed to get Deidara on my side, I would be okay for at least a little while. He wasn't an S-ranked ninja for nothing, and having his protection would be a definite plus. I share this with everyone.

Hibari-Sensei nods slowly, eyes focused on the table before speaking up. "You have a point. But no, it's too risky."

"But Hibari-Sensei," I sigh. "He won't hurt me, I promise."

Yomi scoffs and I shoot her a look. She opens her mouth to speak but is cut off by the sound of a high pitched wail. I stand up quickly, the chair clattering to the floor behind me.

The village's emergency siren.

It drowns out almost any other sounds, and fills you with fear immediately—even if the threat is no bigger than a rabid dog on the loose.

Hibari-Sensei closes all of the windows and shades, and turns every light source off. He locks the door and ushers all of us into the living room, where we squeeze onto the couch.

We stay this way for a long time, no one moving or speaking.

When the sound of crickets signal the setting sun, I finally stand up, my aching bones cracking in protest. "Okay," I say, yawning. "I think we can all relax for now."

Makoto stretches, trying not to move Yomi's sleeping form off of him.

"Yeah I agree," he says tiredly. "Let's just call it a day—I don't even really believe the Akatsuki would all show up here—"

Bang!

A heavy fist, no—a nicely positioned foot comes in contact of my front door. It jolts us all to full attention, even Kazu, who hadn't reacted to anything all day.

Hibari-Sensei stands on guard, with Yomi, Makoto, and I right behind him.

The kicks continue, and the door begins to fail under the pressure. Splinters of wood shower us as it caves more and more.

My heart is beating furiously in my chest, so hard that it's all I hear. I'm afraid it will turn into another attack when Yomi rubs my back to try and calm me down.

The poor door finally fails, shooting even bigger wood splinters at us. First I see a foot. Then a leg. Then a familiar black cloak with red embroidered clouds decorating it. A hand with nicely manicured nails and the freakish addition of a regular mouth comes next reaching through the hole in the door to grasp the doorknob.

It's all I need.

I run over and fling the door open, face coming into contact with more cloak.

"What a warm welcome for someone who never wanted to see me again, hm."

His voice is cold yet it still holds the familiar playful teasing tone. He moves me aside and enters my apartment, completely disregarding the presence of Hibari-Sensei, Yomi, and Makoto. All of which still have not moved from their stances, watching Deidara intently. He sits down on the couch and crosses his legs.

I look from Deidara to everyone else in a panic. If I wasn't careful, a fight would start.

After a few minutes of intense silence, Deidara speaks, and I manage to calm everyone down.

"I wasn't expecting you," he says, nodding at Hibari-Sensei and Yomi. "Or you." The last one is for Makoto, and it's a laced with a tad bit more venom.

Deidara's gaze shifts to me and I freeze, wanting to be somewhere else.

"And _you. _Away for less than a week, and already you're in trouble again, hm."

"S-shut up! It's not my fault, and if you knew the whole story, you wouldn't even be criticizing me."

He stands and crosses over to me. Hibari-Sensei moves to shield me before he can make it, and he has a noticeable few-inch height advantage. But before they can begin brawling, I move to step in between them, back facing Hibari-Sensei.

"It's okay," I whisper to him quickly before glaring up at Deidara. "Why are you here?"

Deidara cups my chin with his hand. I try and move away but his grip is so tight that I can't.

"Why do you think, hm?" he asks. He tilts my head in random directions, eye(s) boring directly into mine. "Why on earth would I be back here after what you said to me?"

I grimace. He laughs.

Hibari-Sensei steps in between us again. Deidara's hand releases my face.

"Why are you here?" Hibari-Sensei says, repeating my question. Only his voice is much more menacing and defensive than mine.

"Wellll.." Deidara drags out the 'L,' effectively giving me the creeps. "I'm here to protect this lost little lamb, on her way to the slaughter, hm."


	17. Chapter 17

A chapter in which Shiori gets drunk and I try and write in Deidara's perspective for a short part.

* * *

Chapter Seventeen

..On the Way to the Slaughter

"I don't need your protection," I say smartly, despite everything in my mind screaming otherwise. "And stop comparing me to animals. At least call me a sheep—they're stronger than lambs and—"

"So Deidara, is it?"

Yomi steps closer to Deidara, effectively cutting me off. I frown and watch the old flirty Yomi return. She winks at him. "Remember me?"

I expect him to coldly reply 'no' and change the subject, but I'm obviously not a certified psychic.

Deidara raises his visible eyebrow before replying, "You're Shiori's loose friend, hm."

I choke and clap a hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter. Yomi gasps and harshly sits down on the couch next to Kazu. I ignore the look she gives me and compose myself, standing up straighter.

The room is quiet now, save for Kazu's harsh breathing, and the air is thick with tension. I move over to the lamp and switch it on, giving the room a tad bit more visibility. Deidara's eye(s) follow me the entire time.

I decide this a great opportunity to get down to business.

I ask, "Is that really why you came? To protect me?"

Deidara sits on the arm of the couch and crosses his legs again, under the watchful eyes of Hibari-Sensei, Yomi, and Makoto.

"Of course, hm," he says, his gaze still making me uncomfortable. "Why else would I be here? You did say you didn't want to ever see me again, hm."

I nod, arms folded. "I don't."

_I do._

"But still. You don't even have to be here."

The words '_Shut up, Shiori,' _begins to play over and over again in my brain, but my mouth won't listen.

Deidara rolls his visible eye. "Listen baby, I'm only here for your sake, hm. Because I'm thoughtful, and considerate, and always looking out for you, despite how you broke my heart a couple of days ago."

Now it's my turn to roll my eyes. If anyone's heart was broken, it was mine.

Yomi speaks up from her place on the couch. "I think I can actually see the sexual tension between you two. Should we leave you alone for about an hour?"

"No!" I shout, flustered. "That isn't important right now. What's important is that _I _am about to be _killed _because the Kage of this village is an _idiot."_

I turn to Deidara. "That's where you come in. I need you to take him out. Scare him, kill him, whatever. He needs to be taken care of."

"And that leaves the biggest threat," says Yomi. "You Akatsuki guys."

Deidara looks boredly at the both of us.

"I volunteered to kill you, hm," he says. This surprises no one. "But it's no secret that I like you more than I like anyone else. So obviously someone else will come and finish the job, hm."

My heart begins to pound again and I grip the bottom of my shirt tightly.

"But you won't let that happen, right?" I ask him.

"I'll try."

"So who do you think will come and kill me?"

It's almost 2 in the morning now, and everyone is still crowded in my living room. It took me a while, but I had finally convinced Hibari-Sensei to take it easy and relax. So in the dark living room, I sit huddled on the edge of the couch with Kazu in my lap. I was starving, and none of us were to move until Hibari-Sensei gave further instructions.

Kazu is calm now, and his breathing is less terminal sounding, which means I am happy. The sooner I could get him medicine, the better.

"Is everyone asleep?" I ask quietly. No one responds.

_I'd better get to sleep too, _I think tiredly, yawning and closing my eyes. I use the time to think about trivial things that plague the minds of people with normal lives. Like the apparent bald spot on my head. I attributed the extra hair coming out to stress. What exactly was I supposed to do to get the hair back?

As I'm going through different possible remedies, a hand runs over my knee.

"What is it, Deidara?" I ask.

He says, "Nothing," and repeats the action. It tickles so I kick my leg out, hoping to catch him in the stomach or something.

"Shiori, Shiori, Shiori, hm."

"What?"

"Look at the trouble you've gotten into now."

I manage to spit out, "Leave me alone," before I feel like crying. It wasn't like I asked for all of this to happen. All I wanted was a regular uneventful existence, which sounded like heaven compared to what I was going through.

"Come sit with me, hm."

Careful not to wake Kazu, I move off of the couch and towards the direction of Deidara's voice. He pulls me down by the waist, bringing my knees straight into his crotch. I put a hand over his mouth just as he opens it to yell. The last thing I needed was for Kazu to wake up crying.

But now that we are 'alone', I can't decide what to say first. So I start with: "I meant it when I said I didn't want to see you again."

He chuckles. "Of course you did."

"I'm serious."

"I know, hm."

"But," I bite my lip. "I'm glad to see you again. Even in this…circumstance."

"When is it any other circumstance?"

This manages to pull a laugh out of me. The laughter stops when I feel his arms snake around my midsection. My first knee-jerk reaction is to try to wrench free, but my body lacks the energy to do anything but sigh heavily and relax completely. I can feel his breath on my left ear, but I try my hardest not to flinch, not to move, not to call him names, not to do anything.

We sit like this for a while in complete silence, before he ruins it.

"How's your head wound, hm?" he asks, rubbing the spot where the stitches still reside.

I sigh again. Maybe I should start counting them and turn it into a drinking game. _If I was lucky enough to get ahold of some alcohol. _

I say, "Good until just now. Stop touching it."

He just hugs me tighter against him, like he's trying to suffocate me. And for a second, I consider this to be true.

And in that second, I panic.

"I thought you said you were gonna protect me!" I yell hysterically, trying to move out of his grasp. "You—" I'm cut off by his hand clapping over my mouth. Deidara wrestles me to the ground and pins me there, hovering above me but not visible in the dark.

"Shut up, Shiori. I wasn't trying to suffocate you, hm."

This doesn't stop my heavy breathing, but the feeling of panic gradually drains out of me. "I'm sorry," I say through his hand. It sounds more like "I'm fwohhy."

Deidara releases me. This time, I sit cross legged in front of him to avoid any future misunderstandings.

"You know, Shiori," he says. "Sometimes I think about the shit you complain about, hm. Like how often you wish your life had never turned in this direction and—"

"And what?" Interrupting was a bad habit of mine.

He shoots me a look before continuing. "—and sometimes I think the same about myself, hm."

I look down at my hands and remark snidely, "'S not like you wouldn't be a terrorist bomber anyway. Same difference."

"Maybe you're right. But at least there weren't any scrawny little hostages to deal with, hm."

"Oh whatever."

There's more silence.

By the ten minute mark I can't take it anymore. The stress of being stuck in a dark room is beginning to remind me of hostage days and I want to get out. Outside. Specifically a place with alcohol. Drowning my sorrows out seemed to be a nice way of running away from my problems.

I shoot this proposition to Deidara, who immediately agrees. Aside from the year without any sexual activity, he also apparently didn't have much to drink.

"You were just a saint, weren't you?"

He rolls his eyes and shoves me through the front door. What's left of it, anyway.

"This tastes awful."

I disdainfully push the frothy mug of beer away from me. I didn't expect much, but I expected a bit more than what I got. By the way that my uncles and the old men around town drank it, I thought beer would be the drink of the gods. I was wrong.

The mug is pushed back towards me.

"Just drink it. You came to get drunk, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," I say. "Also, I think that's the first time you've said at least two sentences without your speech impediment."

Deidara narrows his eye at me. "What are you talking about, hm?"

I take another painful sip. "You have a speech impediment. You tend to make this weird nasally grunt at the end of your sentences sometimes."

"I do not, hm."

"Yeah you do! You did it just now! Don't worry, I think it's cute."

And for the second time in my life, I become a proud witness to a hardened criminal blushing like a little girl. Prime blackmail material.

I quickly change the subject before he becomes angry with me.

"Is there something that tastes better?"

Deidara leaves the table without a word. I use the opportunity to check out my surroundings. It's a bar inside of The Clouds, right at the edge near the cliff that nearly destroyed me the last time I was here.

There are only a handful of people inside, many of them huddled around the outer corners of the room in booths. A heavy smoke fills the air, its acrid stench threatening to make me hurl into the giant mug of gross liquid in front of me.

Finally Deidara returns with a much nicer looking glass. In it is a pretty red liquid, the red a deeper shade at the bottom. A cherry sits on top, along with a rather fancy straw.

A couple of sips has my head foggy, but the taste is substantially better so I can't stop until the entire glass is filled with nothing but ice.

"Another," I tell Deidara. My vision is blurring.

He leaves once again and returns with an identical drink, watching me with what appears to be amusement. The drink disappears almost as quickly as the first, and before I can ask for yet another, Deidara has me up and over his shoulder.

"Wha-what is it? I don't want to leave yet!"

"You're a lightweight, unsurprisingly, hm."

"I'll have you know that I can lift a small child with one arm."

"So?"

"So! Get me one more and then we leave."

After an annoyed sigh, I have another tall glass in front of me. Now _this _was the drink of the gods.

* * *

Deidara watches the clearly inebriated girl in front of him with mild amusement. He could handle at least five Pomegranate Bombs before getting a little foggy. But then again, he didn't expect much from her.

He taps a finger on the table impatiently. The longer they took, the more likely the 'posse' assembled at Shiori's place would get riled up. He really wished that they weren't in the equation. That would just make things more difficult.

"Shiori.."

She glances over, tipping the glass towards her mouth. A trail of the liquid splashes onto her shirt.

"Let's go, hm."

"Okay."

She can't even stand. The second her feet touch the ground gravity is tripled and she tilts, crashing into a lone table. He watches her fall, a mess of toppled chairs and broken table legs on the floor.

He almost laughs, but then he remembers how apparently there is a set list of rules to go with women, and laughing at their misfortune is frowned upon. Rules, rules, rules. Deidara hated rules. It was part of why he joined Akatsuki (aside from the no holds barred beatdown by Itachi, but he didn't like to think about that). But as of late, it seemed like rules had somehow found their way into the picture again.

And it was all because of the drunk girl struggling to pick herself off of the floor.

He helps her up and throws her effortlessly over his shoulder, ignoring the frustrated cursing of the bar owner behind him.

"You have to learn how to handle your alcohol, hm," he tells her. "Or else people will take advantage of you."

"Yeah okay," she says. A short pause. Then: "Are you gonna take advantage of me?"

There's a joking tone to her voice, but it's obviously the alcohol talking.

"No."

"That's so sweet!" Another pause. "I love you."

Deidara nearly drops her in surprise. There she went spouting things like that again. He didn't understand how she could just say cheesy things without vomiting (or at least dry heaving).

He stays silent, hoping she'll drop the subject. She doesn't.

"Say it back," she says fiercely.

"No, hm."

"Say it back!"

"No."

She huffs and is silent. He doesn't like the sound of her silence. If there was one thing Deidara knew for sure about women, it was that it was obvious when they were going to explode.

But that's not all that worries him. It's become too quiet around them. The steady chorus of bugs and frogs have stopped, and the air is still. Someone is around, and he knows where they are.

Almost silently, he fades back into the trees, clapping a hand over Shiori's mouth.

"Shhh," he tells her.

Through the branches he sees three of the Shadow village's special forces. Annoying bastards that he'd heard about—one of the reasons he never made his way here. The way they could literally fade into the shadows, and move silently in ways that no other person could. Their only problem was the extreme arrogance. It often got them killed.

He wondered if Shiori could do what her village was so famous for. He hadn't seen the results of her training, and now he was curious.

Below him, Shiori squirms restlessly. He just squeezes her tighter.

The three figures still haven't moved, and Deidara wants so badly to place explosives on them and watch them turn into a precious work of art.

That also was something women looked down upon apparently.

They sit crouched in the brush for a long time before the three figures are gone and the sounds of the night start back up.

Deidara stands and goes farther back into the trees. It would be wise to stay away from the main streets at the moment. Shiori is silent the entire time, choosing to speak when they get to the front door of her apartment.

"What was that all about?"

"You know what it was all about, hm."

"What?"

"Shut up and go inside!"

She mumbles something and enters the apartment, almost immediately crashing to the floor again. The 'posse' startles awake, and Deidara waits for the shit storm to begin.

It's the girl who speaks first. "Where the hell have you two been?"

Deidara rolls his eyes. Shiori replies from the floor.  
"He took me to get drunk! And—and—I am soo drunk, Yimo."

"It's Yomi, Shiori," Yomi says. Her eyes train on Deidara. "I still don't trust you Akatsuki guys. I don't care how highly Shiori thinks of you, you're still a criminal."

He's beyond annoyed now, and the only thing that stops his hand from going around her neck is Shiori's foot. She stretches her leg up in his direction from the floor, showing surprising flexibility.

"No no," she says. "No fighting, please."

Deidara watches her struggle to her feet. She looks around at everyone in the room and folds her arms.

"Kay, everyone! Right now, I'm in charge. So I have requests!"

He is amused now. Through her slurring and the one octave that her voice seemed to have risen, he doesn't want to miss anything she says.

"First task," she says, pointing at her teacher. "Can you go get Kazu some medicine for fevers, Hibari-Sensei? He has fevers. Second task! In order to save my self, everyone pile into Makoto's apartment!"

Makoto raises his eyebrows at her. "What?"

Shiori gives him an impatient look. "Your apartment has three bedrooms! _Plus, _Kazu kinda had an accident in my room so it smells like puke. And allllso, isn't my place too obvious? We gotta throw them off the trail!"

She sways a bit. "Okay," Makoto sighs hesitantly.

Shiori turns to Deidara and nearly trips over herself again. "I have a feeling I'm not going to die," she whispers. "I'm in good hands, right?"

"..Right, hm."

Deidara tries his hardest to ignore the atrocious assortment of 'pottery' decorating one of the rooms in Makoto's apartment. They were, in his opinion, awful and unworthy of even being on display. This bugs him, and he wants to destroy each and every one of them—turn them into _real _art.

He goes to complain to Shiori about it, but quickly remembers her drunkenness. She is currently clumsily rocking the little orphan boy back and forth, trying to get him to sleep.

"Shiori," Deidara says, removing his hair tie. "Leave him be and come over here, hm."

She hesitates, looking from Deidara to Kazu and back again. "Well okay. You rest up, okay Kazu?"

Kazu nods and wrestles free from her and exits the room, a stuffed cat toy clutched possessively against his chest.

"Oh Deidara," Shiori groans and flops down onto the bed. "I'm so bad at taking care of kids."

Deidara cringes slightly at the way she says his name. Her drunken state has caused her to put too much emphasis on the second syllable. It irritates him almost to the point that he wants to punch something, but he decides to let it go.

"Can I play in your hair, Dei—"

He shushes her before she can say his name again and begrudgingly leans over towards her. In the year they were apart, he had almost forgotten how much he enjoyed the feeling of fingers running through his hair. Even if the fingers were a little callused. He made a mental note to teach Shiori the wonders of moisturizers and the miracles they worked.

He didn't even want to think about the disaster that was her hair. Speaking of her hair, he wondered why it was in a ball on top of her head.

Reaching over, he unravels the rubber band and her hair falls down past her shoulders. Normal, but something wasn't right...

Deidara grabs her shoulders and pushes her down to get a better look at the top of her head. He nearly faints.

"You have a bald spot! And your hair is thinning, hm!"

She nods and yawns. "Uh-huh," she says. "I'm a little stresssssed."

This is no excuse. People blessed with long hair should always take care of it. Split ends, bald spots, thinning areas etc. were just the result of poor hair management.

Shiori rolls onto her back and sighs long and hard.

"I'm tired." Pause. "Tell me about yourself."

She was definitely a little on the odd side when drunk, he notices. Questions and statements just popped out of her mouth at random. Deidara mimics her position and stares at the ceiling. He doesn't remember the last time he was able to just lie down and relax.

"I'm not telling you about myself," he says to her. "There's not much you don't already know, and a whole bunch I don't want you to know, hm."

She frowns. "Okay."

He watches her. Sometimes he likes to watch her. She's amusing, and does stupid little things that he isn't sure he should notice. Like how she would wiggle her toes at random moments, or the way her nose scrunched up whenever she was deep in thought.

Shiori notices him watching, and moves closer, pausing for a second before rolling completely on top of him. She nearly rolls off of the bed but he catches her, placing both hands firmly on the small of her back.

He's almost forgotten how soft women are. Soft and so full of curves.

They're perfect for touching, and he figured that out a long time ago. He's so caught up in his own thoughts that he doesn't notice that Shiori has been curiously looking at the space below his belly button. She blinks.

"Oh I know what this means," she says thoughtfully. "Do you want to? I can tellll."

He rolls his eyes when she starts giggling like a maniac. While tempting, Deidara wonders if maybe he should wait until she is sober. And when there aren't other people just on the other side of the walls.

Shiori stares at him, one eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Do you want to?" she repeats. "Because I want to."

Skeptical, he replies, "Do you really, hm? Because I think it's just the alcohol talking right now."

As if to prove she is serious, Shiori discards her shirt and tosses it across the room. There's binding around her chest, as if her breasts are really so big, and the scar across her stomach is as prominent as ever.

"Oh is this supposed to prove something?"

"Yeah it is!"

"Oh really, hm?"

He decides to just go for it. _Something _needs to take his mind off of the memories that go with her scar.

Unlike the usual Shiori, 'this one' doesn't object to anything. She doesn't whine and complain about everything, nor does she even bat an eyelash when Deidara himself begins to undress. He almost misses her over the top reactions. While annoying, they were at the same time amusing.

He ponders this silently, while Shiori looks on in confusion.

"What is it?" she asks impatiently.

The door opens.

"Well lookie here," says Yomi, leaning against the doorframe. "I was coming to tell you that there's food out here, but I can see you two are busy."

Deidara shoots her a glare. Obviously no one knew how to knock on doors that were closed.

Yomi returns his harsh look and moves further into the room.

"So." She sits on the bed next to Shiori, who has leaned back up. "Do you have protection?"

She reminds Deidara of a big sister. A big sister that meddles constantly in the affairs of the younger—a nuisance. But the younger doesn't notice or care about the older's meddling, for the older is the epitome of everything the younger wants to be.

It seems to Deidara, that this is exactly the case.

Yomi folds her arms. "Well? Protection or not? If not, I'm afraid the two of you _won't _be doing whatever you were doing."

Shiori yawns. Not a good sign. The last thing he needs is for Shiori to fall asleep and leave him with this..issue to handle alone. And while that's good and all occasionally, he desperately needs to be in a pair.

The mood that was previously in the room begins to disappear the longer Yomi sits between them.

"Can you leave, hm?" Deidara asks. He isn't too keen on the way she is staring at him. Or the way her eyes keep roaming on the areas of him not covered by clothing.

She ignores him and turns to Shiori. "He isn't taking advantage of you is he?"

Shiori shakes her head and yawns again.

"Just remember Shiori, you don't have to do anything you don't want to. And you should have protection. Who knows what things this guy's caught."

Deidara smirks. "I can say the same about you, hm."

This gets her riled up, and she jumps to her feet and throws a small flat object at Deidara's face. "Watch it, asshole," are her parting words as she stomps into the hallway. The door slams behind her and the room is silent.

"Your friend has a big mouth."

Shiori shrugs and yawns for a third time. "So do you."

He rolls his eyes and smashes her face into the pillows before standing and going over to the mirror.

"Hey! Are we still gonna or what?"

He feels annoyed now. And that feeling is threatening to make the other feeling go away. A pout forms on his face.

"I don't know, hm," he says. "Maybe I don't feel like it."

Shiori groans and wobbles over to where he is standing. "Come on. She gave us one of these, see?" She waves the object in front of his face.

"It won't fit me."

"Deidara!"


	18. Chapter 18

**sup. im redoing the first two stories. till those get redone, this'll be on hiatus. peace**

* * *

Chapter Eighteen

The Last Time

* * *

I wake up with a throbbing headache and the worst morning breath possible. Sunlight filters through the closed navy blue curtains and the morning breeze sends them fluttering outward. So I had made it through the night in one piece..

"Oh, my head…"

I go to lean up, but I'm pinned to the bed by Deidara's arms gripped tight around me. They're warm, and that I appreciate, but all good things must come to an end. "Wake up," I say, one hand over my mouth to shield the offensive air coming from it. "I can't move."

He blinks once, twice, three times before releasing me and rolling over onto his back. He isn't wearing any clothes, and the thin bed sheets are barely doing a good job of shielding any of his privacy. Embarrassed for the both of us, I pull the sheets up to his belly button. It is then that I notice that I am not wearing anything either.

Although I can't remember any of the previous night's events, it's pretty obvious how it ended. A little bummed out that I couldn't remember what was probably a grand time, I hobble out of the bed with the fluffy comforter wrapped around me like a long towel.

As soon as I take a few steps, I feel extremely nauseous. My head begins to spin, and it feels like I need to vomit.

"How's your first hangover feel, hm?"

I turn slowly towards Deidara, who is propped up by the elbows. His expression reads: amused.

"It feels awful," I reply, one hand to my aching head. I close my eyes and it feels like a tiny ball of bright light is pulsating and beating behind them. "I'm never drinking again."

He chuckles in an _'oh, Shiori you silly goose,' _kind of way as I stagger into the hall.

It's completely silent and no lights have been turned on yet, letting me know that I'm the first awake. I disregard everyone's peaceful sleeping and barge into Makoto's bedroom.

Inside, Makoto and Yomi are asleep in a classic cheesy romantic pose, both facing each other and holding hands.

"Makotooo," I wail from the doorway miserably. "Yomiii."

I repeat this a few times before someone stirs. Yomi leans up, eyes closed, and scratches her head. "What is it, Shiori?"

"I have a hangover and it sucks."

She laughs and crosses the room into the hall behind me. "C'mon I'll make you some coffee."

Refreshed and dressed for the day, I gulp down what must be my sixth cup of coffee. Both Yomi and Deidara find it hilarious that I can't stand for more than a few seconds before wanting to puke, or that even the tiniest of sounds is like an explosion.

Yomi shooes me out of the kitchen. By now, it's lunchtime, and she claims to have the perfect recipe to make me feel better.

Miserable, and with a bad taste lingering in my mouth despite the minty toothpaste used earlier, I flop down on the couch next to Deidara. He ignores me in favor of an old gossip magazine, even when I put my head on his shoulder expectantly.

Nothing.

I open my mouth to begin whining again, but before anything comes out, he sighs and places an arm around my shoulder. Until the pain subsides, all I want to do is lie still and close my eyes.

"You can't just lie still and close your eyes!" comes Yomi's voice from the kitchen. "There is work to do! It's your own fault for getting wasted like that."

"Tch."

Deidara finally turns his attention away from the magazine and focuses completely on me. This makes me less miserable, and I bury my face into his shirt in an effort to block out the world.

"Make the room stop spinning, Deidara."

"I can't. Not after all of those drinks you had last night, hm."

I groan, the sound muffled by his shirt. "What was in that stuff anyway?"

"Hmmm…vodka and pomegranate juice I believe."

"Why didn't you stop me?"

"You're such a cute drunk, hm. Besides, it made the sex all the more fun."

Trying to stay composed at the word (and the subject in general) I make an effort to continue the conversation. "Yeah well, I don't remember anything."

"Oh poor you, hm."

We stay quiet for a while, and I think that the subject has dropped until Deidara speaks up again. "Would you like me to help you remember?"

"No."

"I think you do, hm. Did you know, Shiori, that your entire personality changed once you got drunk? And that…you are _very _flexible—"

The memory begins to flood back all at once as he continues to explain, vivid pictures of everything that happened behind the closed door of Makoto's guest bedroom. A tangled mess of bedsheets and limbs. The hot stuffiness of the room. The long string of curse words that wouldn't stop flowing out of my mouth. And worst of all—my behavior. The vulgar manner in which I acted the entire time shames me to even think about and I bury my face even deeper into Deidara's shirt. So much so that I can't breathe.

"That's so embarrassing!" I choke out. "I acted like a whore!"

Deidara, of course, thinks otherwise. "You acted like you actually enjoyed it, hm."

He sounds annoyed now, and I peer up cautiously to look him in the face. What did that mean?

Eye narrowed, he goes, "I'd prefer you drunk than sober when it comes down to that, hm."

Ouch. Defensive, I reply, "Oh yeah? Well excuse me for being a boring, unattractive little nub of a woman that sucks in bed!"

"You're excused, hm."

"Oooo!"

I stomp away and return to the guest bedroom. The faint scent of sweat still lingers in the air. Rushing to the window, I fling it open and stick my head out of it, just in time for the remaining food in my stomach to come back up. I stay that way, head hanging out of the window, for a while until the dry heaves show any signs of stopping. They seem to go on forever.

A hand is placed on my back.

"What do you want?" I ask, retching more into the warm sun. "Didn't we just have a fight?"

"Oh shut up, hm."

I sigh. "Okay I'm sorry. I guess I kinda get where you're coming from."

"Don't apologize. Just prove that you don't need to be drunk to not lie there like a doll, hm."

Rolling my eyes, I retreat back into the apartment. "Is that an invitation to bed? I don't think so. It isn't exactly an appropriate time."

With a wink he says, "There will be an appropriate time."

"Yeah yeah, sure. Not if I'm killed before this is over. Can't do that with a corpse, now can you?"

For a split second, a troubled expression crossed Deidara's features before disappearing completely. "Hey.." I lean closer, peering into his visible eye. "I saw that!"

He takes a few steps backward. "What?"

"That look on your face! Like you were sad!"

His eye narrows now, partnered with a scowl that could make babies cry. I drop the subject and move towards the bed, anxious for a nap. I wait expectantly on the soft, albeit slightly defiled mattress for him to join me. Instead, he heads past and through the door, not giving me a second glance.

Deidara was an expert at making me feel awful for things that were not my fault.

* * *

One, two, three explosions go off one by one in the building where the Shadow Village's leader resides. The blasts light up the night, illuminating the silent streets as if it were daylight. It doesn't take long for people to start pouring into the streets, and by then, he is already a shadow—gone without a trace that it was he who caused the disturbance.

He makes his way back towards What's-His-Face's apartment quickly, but slow enough that he can see the panicked faces of the civilians who have come out to see what the problem was.

There was no way that he could wait for the three bumbling idiots back at the apartment to take action—with the pace they were going, it would already be too late. Now all that was left was the bigger problem—his task of getting rid of Shiori and how he was going to do that.._without _doing that.

Caught up in his thoughts, he misses the apartment, finding himself over a mass of trees. He doubles back, annoyed.

"I'd better get something in return for this, hm."

* * *

He comes through the door just as Makoto and Hibari-Sensei tell me to come look outside. It sounds bad, the way I can faintly hear screaming, and I dread what I see.

I peek out of the window and see a magnificent wall of flame illuminating the night sky. It's so impressive that I can't help but utter an awed, "Wow…"

But I know it's _his _doing. I heard the blasts go off.

"Deidara, what did you do?" I ask, not able to tear my eyes away from the fire.

"I solved your first problem. You were taking too long to do anything, and I _don't _have the patience to deal with you, hm."

"But there could have been people in there that haven't done anything wrong!"

I shake my head and face him. He's staring at me from the doorway into the kitchen, half of his face obscured by the wall.

"So," he says. "Sometimes to save one, you have to kill many, hm."

Something still doesn't feel right, but I have no energy to waste arguing with him in the humid apartment.

I try and ignore the fire and turn away from the window. Makoto and Hibari-Sensei are talking in harsh whispers to each other, no doubt about the catastrophe Deidara caused.

The question is, was it a good thing? We all wanted to get rid of the stupid Shadow King, but did any of us actually have the guts to do it? I knew I definitely didn't. Maybe the fire was exactly what we needed to get the village back on track.

I think that maybe I should express this, but my stomach emits a harsh growl that could rival a dog's. My thoughts derailed, I immediately seek out Yomi.

"Yomi?" I go down the hall and into Makoto's bedroom. I find her sitting in front of his mirror dabbing at her eyes with a small white pad. I assume it's to remove her makeup.

"Yomi are you going to make us—me, food?"

She tosses the pad into the waste basket and rests her face on her palm. "Sure thing, kiddo."

"Kiddo?"

"Mm-hm. Anyway, what did Loverboy do to cause such a fire."

I sit on the bed and fold my legs. "He put some bombs in the Shadow Moron's living quarters."

Her eyes widen for a split second before she nods in silent approval. "Did he now? Nice."

I raise an eyebrow and open my mouth to say something, but she cuts me off.

"I was wondering when the two stooges in there would finally do something. It's about time."

She sounds like Deidara. Judging by the things they both said, they shared a common mindset when it came down to things. But why did I get along so great with Yomi, yet take to Deidara like a cat and dog?

Yomi flicks me on the forehead with two perfectly manicured fingers and reclines back onto the chair. "Earth to Shiori."

"Sorry."

There's a few seconds of silence, composed of nothing but Yomi's apathetic stare in my direction. I think that maybe I've done something wrong, but she smiles.

I just don't expect where she directs the conversation.

"You are oh so very lucky, Shiori," she says, still sporting the cheesy grin and raised eyebrows.

"Why?"

If it was up to me to describe myself, I would choose any word but "lucky."

"Loverboy's a _monster."_

Now it's my turn to raise an eyebrow. A monster? What did that mean? Yomi rolls her eyes, annoyed. I'm assuming at the fact that she has to explain it to me.

"A monster in bed."

"What?"

"Oh for god's sake, Shiori. He seems very nice in bed; you are lucky that he is very nice in bed; his stamina is amazing—"

My mouth hangs open. How did she get this information? And I didn't know if I'd exactly describe him as _that _, but after all, I was clueless about things in that subject.

"How? What?"

"Well," she says, leaning closer and dropping her volume. "I got up in the middle of the night to go pee, and I could hear you guys."

My hair feels like it stands on end. Great, another thing to be embarrassed about.

She continues to talk, the grin never leaving her face.

"So you know, being the caring friend that I am, I peeked inside the room. The door was ajar, anyway. Besides, I had to see if you weren't being taken advantage of. And what I saw.."

My eyes widen. "What you saw?"

Shaking her head, she claps a hand on my shoulder. "You, my dear friend, are very fortunate to have that wonderful specimen all to yourself."

I put my face in my hands, flustered beyond belief. "Okay, Yomi stop talking now."

"But—"

"Yomi!"

"You're such a kid, Shiori!"

She playfully shoves me and stands up, facing the doorway. Before she can reach it, I stick a foot out, and she goes stumbling into the hallway before landing roughly on her knees.

A strange warbled sound that can best be described as a laugh comes out of me and it won't stop. Not even when I stand to follow her and she shoves me harder, sending me tumbling in the living room. I stop right at Deidara's feet, and his confused expression only makes me laugh harder.

My laughter stops immediately when I realize that I'm the only one making noise. Embarrassed, I shuffle over to the couch and fold my legs. I notice the absence of a certain tiny little kid curled up by my side and suddenly everything is wrong.

"Where's Kazu?" I ask, trying not to panic.

There was no way he could be anywhere outside of the apartment. At least, I hoped so.

Yomi leaves the living room and returns with Kazu's stuffed animal. He isn't too far behind, appearing haggard and exhausted.

I reach for him and he slowly, almost painfully, climbs into my lap.

"He needs medicine, you guys. His fever is worse."

As if to prove it, he sighs tiredly against my shirt. I'd almost forgotten about him with all of the stuff going on, and I feel horrible about it.

No one says anything; I get only silence. Annoyed, I repeat myself, louder this time.

"Kazu is really sick—"

"Heard you the first time, hm."

I go to glare at Deidara, but before I can, he is up and walking towards the hall. He beckons me to follow and I do, on edge and ready to retaliate if necessary.

We enter the room where we slept the previous night. The smell is nearly gone thanks to the open window.

Deidara rummages around in a tiny pack (I assume it's always strapped to him someplace) and conjures up a small white bottle. He shoves it towards me.

"Make him drink it. But not all of it, hm."

I shake my head and eye the bottle suspiciously. "Hell no!" I say. "How do I know that whatever's in that bottle won't cause him pain? Or do I have to remind you of that green goo you slathered all over my wounds?"

His eye narrows. Uh-oh.

"Fine," he says. "Let the little shit die then, hm."

And with that he pushes past me going out the door.

I stare at the bottle in my hand, then at Kazu, weighing the odds. I suppose that even if it does cause Kazu pain, at least it will heal him. After all, the weird ointment Deidara got from the old woman in the forest _did _heal my stomach wound pretty well.

"C'mon, Kazu." I hoist him up, tilting his chin upwards. His eyes are closed.

"Kazu, wake up." As carefully as I can, I tilt the tiny vial towards his mouth. My unsteady hands nearly shake the liquid right out of it in the process. I let half of the bottle drain before corking it and slipping it into my pocket.

The color fills Kazu's cheeks almost instantly, returning them to a healthier shade of pink. And while not fully recovered, he is definitely on his way.

With one less thing to worry about, I'm ready to tackle the situation at hand. After tucking Kazu under the covers, I return to the living room, only to find that Hibari-Sensei and Makoto are gone.

Yomi speaks from the kitchen. "They went to gather your things. We've apparently decided to finally get this show on the road."

"What?"

"We're leaving the village," she says. "I could use a vacation."

My previous body pains immediately start up again. "Where are we going?" I ask. I don't expect anything lavish, and I definitely don't expect the new hiding place to be anything remotely resembling a house.

Yomi replies sarcastically, "The most amazing place you could ever hide out in."

I roll my eyes and sink onto the couch, accidentally sitting right on Deidara's hand. He yanks it from under me and shoots me a look before going back to staring at the opposite wall.

I glance at his face. It annoyed me how often he made me feel like the enemy in certain situations—like I was the one solely at fault for our altercations. Maybe if he weren't such a prick, we could get along okay.

When I glance a second time, he's looking at me from the corner of his eye. He leans towards me and I flinch away. I really had to stop expecting pain whenever he got close. It projected a very different view of whatever our relationship was.

"At midnight, meet me behind the apartment building, hm," he whispers.

He's so close that I can feel his breath on my neck, and it sends shivers down my spine. My fingers clutch the bottom of my shirt.

"Don't do that," I say harshly. "And why should I meet you behind the apartment building at midnight?"

"You'll see."

"Is it for something sexual?"

He shakes his head. "Not unless you want it to be, hm."

"Sorry I asked," I reply. "Forgot how repressed you are."

With a shrug, he goes, "I wouldn't be so repressed if you weren't so afraid to` fuck, hm."

Appalled at his language, I scoff and fold my arms. "You're so gross."

"And you love it."

I roll my eyes for what feels like the hundredth time that night.

Yomi is still bungling around in the kitchen doing who knows what and Kazu is out, leaving Deidara and I alone.

Great.

He still hasn't moved, and his breath is steadily blowing against my neck. I try and ignore it in favor of starting conversation. I needed to take my mind off of things. Maybe then my body would stop aching.

"Deidara?"

"Hm?"

I sigh, puffing my cheeks out. "Can I ask you something?"

I had been thinking over the questionable status of our relationship for a long time, but had never gotten the opportunity or the courage to actually ask. During a time where I literally did not know whether or not I would come out alive seemed like the best time to ask.

Deidara is silent, waiting for me to speak. My eyes stay focused on Makoto's coffee table and the empty cup I had left on it earlier.

"What are we?" I ask.

He goes, "What?"

"What are we? Are we a couple? Or.."

Suddenly, he laughs, quietly and restrained, like he's trying to hold in so much more. "Are you serious, hm?"

Something tells me I shouldn't have even asked, just quietly enjoyed the sort of peace treaty we both had.

Deidara buries his face into my neck and I suppress a scream.

"What do you think?" he asks.

"Well I dunno. After all, you are kind of easy."

"Excuse me, hm!" He sounds genuinely offended. "Fyi, I was just doing what any person would do—I have needs, Shiori."

I snort. "Yeah and you also have mouths on the palms of your hands."

He laughs loud and hard this time, the sound strange in such a close proximity to my ears. He laughs so hard he makes a wheezing sound, and when he leans up, his cheeks are ruddy.

"Not bad," he says. "Impressive, hm."

"I try."

I mentally cursed myself for distracting him from my question, knowing I would definitely not try and bring it up again.

Fortunately for me, he hadn't forgotten.

"I got your back, hm."

I know, in his own idiotic way, that Deidara had answered my question—and I liked the answer!

* * *

Midnight comes quickly, and I hesitantly take the elevator to the lobby of Makoto's apartment building. It's silent and devoid of all people—even the pudgy woman that sits behind the desk is gone. I chalk this up to the chaos that is the fiery inferno raging in the center of town.

I go around to the back hall and out the glass door, arriving at the pool. Lanterns are lit around the perimeter of the area, shining spectacularly off of the blue water. I see no one, just a few lounge chairs and discarded towels hanging over the wooden fence.

"I didn't think you'd come, hm."

The sound of his voice sends my heart up into my throat. What kind of ninja was I? I startled so easily.

Deidara walks past me and beckons me to follow, dangerously close to the edge of the pool.

I have the urge to push him. Just as I reach out with one hand, he speaks, startling me again.

"Do it and I will kill you, hm."

My arm drops to my side.

"Sit."

I flop down on the slightly damp chair and prop my feet up. Deidara does the same in the chair next to me. He isn't wearing his cloak, just the black midriff bearing shirt and the matching black pants.

Neither of us says anything, and the only sound is the cricket's chorus and the faint yells of the villagers at the site of the explosions. The resulting fire is barely visible from our spot behind the apartment, but the glow can clearly be seen from any direction.

"Why'd you ask me out here?" I ask, not taking my eyes off of the orange luminescence. "I have a feeling it's—"

I can't finish my sentence, on account of my mouth being smashed up against Deidara's.

It was obvious to me from the start the intention of this little meeting.

"Mmph!" Deidara is ruthless—dragging me out of my chair and onto the one he sits in. I can't breathe, and my air supply is running low.

He pulls away just for a second. "Breathe through your nose."

And so I do.

It seems the most inopportune time to be making out, but who am I to argue with the yearnings of my own body?

Finally, we separate, and all I can do is stare wide-eyed at the man in front of me. "What was that?"

He rolls his eyes. "A kiss, hm."

"No, I knew what it was but—"

"Shut up and take off your clothes."

I immediately stand up and begin to make my way back into the building. Kissing was one thing, but anything more than that was a wee bit inappropriate considering the situation. Did he ever think about anything other than himself?

A hand grips my wrist and yanks me backwards. With one arm holding my wrist and the other around my waist, Deidara says, "This may be the last time that we can ever do this, hm."

I turn around to face him, eyebrows knitted together. He's looking at me straight-faced, as if he is completely serious.

But after examining his face a few times, I realize that he is.

And it makes me sad.

After a few minutes I nod, returning to the pool chairs with him.

.


	19. Chapter 19

**so um i found this chapter in my documents that i never uploaded for this story haha**

**i figured id upload it here, despite this story being on a verryy long hiatus**

**enjoy~**

* * *

Chapter Nineteen

The 'F' Word

"Woah, we're not going down this path again." We had managed to both end up shirtless before I realized that, no; Deidara had no form of protection whatsoever. I fold my arms and retreat to a separate pool chair. Unlike some people, I actually cared about ending up pregnant at twenty. It was sheer luck that I wasn't already.

God knows I wouldn't be able to use the 'missed period' thing as a clue. I share this with Deidara.

"What?" he asks, confused. "Why not, hm?"

"I don't have periods, didn't you notice at all?"

The look on his face tells all. "Why the hell would I know that? And why don't you have them, hm?"

I sigh and fidget around with the now loose binding around my chest. "Well, I stopped having them after I lost so much weight back when I was kidnapped by you guys. I'm not even sure if I can even have kids."

I remind myself to go consult a doctor—if I ever had the opportunity, that is.

Deidara seems a little grossed out by it all. Whether it be the fact that I had somehow derailed the "moment" into talk about my reproductive system, or the fact that I lost so much weight that my body ceased an important function.

Either way, I sympathized with him.

"Thanks for killing the mood," he says solemnly. I shrug.

"You asked."

He closes his eyes and is silent. Before I can ask if he's fallen asleep just that quickly, he grabs me by the waist and sits me right down on his lap. So much for the mood being killed.

"I thought you didn't want to anymore," I say, still fidgeting with the binding.

He shrugs. "I do and I don't, hm. Besides, I know you won't let me inside unless I have a glove, amiright?"

"God, you're disgusting."

And correct.

So we sit like that, silent and awkward and looking right into each other's faces while a fire rages in the center of town and the entirety of my life is crashing down on my head.

When we make it back upstairs, Yomi is livid. Her eyebrows are furrowed so close to each other that they look connected and her fists are balled up at her sides, showing off her impressive arm muscles. "Where were you two?!"

"Pool," I say, moving behind Deidara. "We were just talking and stuff."

Yomi continues to make a big show of how she doesn't trust him, and narrows her eyes into slits. "Don't go anywhere with blondie here alone, Shiori."

I roll my eyes, but understand what she's coming from.

"It's fine, Yomi," I say, pushing myself in between them. "Really, I promise. He wouldn't hurt me. Right, Deidara?"

I don't quite know the answer to that myself, but I hoped it would be a negative coming from him. With a scoff and a roll of the eyes, he gives me a look before slinking down the hall.

Yomi watches him, eyes still narrowed.

Ignoring that vague answer that certainly did not help my case, I try and change the subject. "Hey Yomi, did you make me food?"

She immediately softens and pulls me into the kitchen. "Course I did. You need to eat better, or all that training will go to waste."

I take a plate and spoon a heaping pile of fried rice onto it. Speaking of my training, I was anxious for Deidara to see how strong I'd gotten.. But unfortunately, I felt like a little girl waiting to impress her father. At least, until she realized that she didn't need his validation.

I take two spoons, and shuffle past Yomi. I wasn't the only one who needed food.

In Makoto's guest bedroom, Deidara is leaning out of the window, hair blowing in the wind. Kazu is still asleep, curled up in a tiny ball. I move closer to inspect him. His breathing is normal, and he has regained all of the color in his cheeks.

"Deidara," I say, sitting on the floor. "Come help me eat this."

He turns around, and that's when I see the lit cigarette hanging from his mouth. I almost have a heart attack.

"What are you doing?! Spit that out!"

Smoking was something I found absolutely repulsive—and I would tell it to someone's face. My father smoked, and enveloped himself and the house in a nasty stench that only went away when Mom and I went crazy with the cleaner.

Deidara stoops down and blows a cloud of smoke into my face before putting it out on the glazed wooden floorboards.

Gross! So gross I'm immediately put off from kissing him ever again. "I won't kiss you again ever," I say, gagging. "That's disgusting!"

"Really, hm?" He smirks. "Ever? Yeah, okay."

And just purely for the purpose of being an ass, he pecks me right on the mouth. Surprisingly I don't taste tobacco, just a faint trace of mint, and I know that he'd planned it all. Crafty bastard.

As he sits next to me on the floor, I ask, "Do you really smoke?"

He shrugs, shovels a spoonful of rice into his mouth. "Not often. Maybe every few weeks, hm."

"So why smoke at all?"

"Sometimes I crave it," he says. "Just like I crave other things, hm."

"Can't help you with that one."

"I think you can, hm. You're just too scared to."

"Hmph."

Suddenly I feel an overwhelming urge to prove to him that I am not the scared little girl that he thinks I am, to prove that I can be just as fun sober as I could drunk.

I slam my spoon down with a _clatter. _Deidara raises an eyebrow in its direction, but otherwise stays silent. I do the same with his spoon, yanking it out of his hand. While he looks down again in confusion, I muster up all of my courage and say it—loud and clear.

"I'll sleep with you if you spar with me. Back of the apartment at the pool. Right now."

Outside, I'm confident but inside, I'm shaking. Deidara is just staring at me in what looks to be disbelief.

For about a minute, neither of us move an inch. My chest is rising and falling with each heavy breath and it feels like I'm going to faint.

After what seems like an eternity, Deidara chuckles. He pushes me away, removing his ponytail holder. My heart beats even faster. Not every day did I see him unravel that ponytail that sat near the top of his head. With it gone, though, he looked a tad more like a woman than normal.

He hands me the ponytail holder with a smirk. "Tie my hair up for me?"

I stare at him, dumbfounded. This was the first time that he allowed me to have contact with his hair without me asking first. To any other person, this would be nothing special, but with Deidara…

My fingers fumbling, I clumsily tie all of his hair up into a ponytail. Even his bangs. His hair feels so silky and soft, I can't believe how coarse mine is compared to his. I ask him what his secrets are.

He stands up and goes to the mirror, examining my job.

"Secrets? I don't have any. I just wash it often, and with the right kind of shampoo, hm."

"The…right kind?"

He nods, turns to face me. "Yes. What do you use?"

I think about it, afraid to tell him that I use the really cheap drugstore kind that could possibly contain traces of some unsafe chemical. But without a steady flow of income, I could barely afford rent, let alone the fancy hair products.

Deidara nudges me with his foot. I notice that I'm still in the same position as I was before.

"I uh, don't know what kind I use," I say meekly.

"Oh?" His eyebrows rise. "I see. Well, obviously you don't take care of your hair. It's so damaged you might have to get it cut off, hm."

My hands fly to my head, feeling around frantically as if my hair troubles can be found perched on top of my head.

"What?!" I yell. "But—but it took so long for it to grow back after you cut it last time!"

Deidara puts one finger up to his mouth, shushing me. Then, he pulls me to my feet with one hand. The muscles in his arm bulge at this. It makes me want to fight him even more.

He says, "I'll take you up on your offer, hm."

I nearly jump for joy. This time, I could do it right. This time, I wouldn't lose the fight before it even began. This time, I could show him why I left to go train for a year.

Maybe I hadn't thought this through.

I pick myself off of the stone ground for the seventh time, in a little more pain and a little more discouraged. Deidara is standing on the other side of the pool, patiently waiting for me to collect myself once _again. _

And once _again _I jump the pool in one leap, aiming to wipe that stupid smirk off of his face. I hadn't landed a single hit on him yet, and I want so desperately to get him right in his pretty boy face. Nevermind how attractive he looks with no hair in his face. Mature, disciplined, almost. Like a samurai.

From the pack on my leg I produce a kunai, and with it I slash one, two, three times towards his face. Each time he dodges, but the third manages to catch his headband, connecting with a _clang. _It flies off of his head and lands dangerously close to the pool.

"Oh," he says, dodging yet another one of my punches. "Look at you, Shiori. You can actually keep up, hm."

"Shut up!"

That was exactly what I wanted to put a stop to. Maybe he didn't understand (or care) that treating me like a child was something that angered me so much. Almost everything he did made me feel lesser than him, inferior.

_Livid._

He finally turns on his offense, throwing a particularly hard fist towards me. But for once, I'm faster, dipping down and swinging my legs underneath him. He's knocked right off his feet, sent right off the edge.

He lands in the pool with a humongous splash. The water rains down on me.

"_Oh my god!" _I yell, clapping both hands to my mouth. I can hardly believe that I landed a hit! More specifically, a hit that knocked him off his feet! I rush over to help him out of the pool, but as I bend down, I see the pure rage plastered to his face. I'm confused. We had discussed that it was all in good fun beforehand, so why was he looking at me like I was the worst thing to exist?

"Deidara?"

Two wet hands grab me roughly by the shirt and in two seconds I'm right in the water next to him. I panic immediately, fearing he's trying to drown me.

Thrashing and kicking, I manage to pull Deidara's hands away from my shirt and stand up. He's squinting at me, the glare still stuck to his face.

"I'm sorry," I say. _Why am I apologizing?!_

He moves closer to me, and I take a step back, suddenly terrified.

"I didn't mean to kick you into the pool! I didn't think you'd actually—"

He grabs me again, but this time it's to pull my face right to his. Just as quickly as it starts, the kiss ends. It's rough and angry, full of perverse sexual lust, and it reflects in Deidara's eyes.

His "death glare" makes more sense.

"Keep going," he commands, pulling himself out of the pool.

I follow, feeling about ten pounds heavier. There just had to be some way to dry my clothes in about five seconds. My shoes make squelching noises on the stone ground as I circle Deidara, trying to find an opening. I lunge, and he catches me, fist connecting soundly with my shoulder.

Or at least, with what Deidara _thinks _is my shoulder.

The shadow clone disappears with a _poof _and a cloud of smoke; it gives me the perfect opportunity to come down hard on top of him. We both get the wind knocked out of us on impact. I've been doing a really good job of ignoring the pain in favor of the pure joy coursing through my body.

_Who _just kicked an S-ranked criminal into a pool?

_Who _just used a clone to trick him and knock all the pretty boy wind out of him?

_Who _just got sucker punched so hard in the gut that it possibly turned her intestines inside out?

I skid to a stop near the changing room doors, holding my arms protectively over my stomach. I had no idea he would go for that area, considering how sensitive it was—the scar still ached whenever it rained!

Deidara comes over and stoops down over me. He pries me out of the fetal position and lifts my drenched shirt up to my chest. I'm in too much pain to even form coherent thoughts, but what does form is disappointment. Once again I managed to lose before the fight really started heating up.

"Lucky shot with the clone, hm," says Deidara. He's smirking, rubbing slow circles on my stomach with one hand.

I try and muster a smile and a _thanks_, but it turns into more of a grimace and a groan.

Surprisingly, the pain subsides a bit, enough that I can lean up to a sitting position. I raise an eyebrow down at my stomach (now sporting an impressive fist print) before looking up at Deidara. "What was that?"

He shrugs. "Doesn't matter, hm. Are you okay?"

"I'll be alright."

A frown crosses his face. Perhaps that was the wrong response. Before I can ask if I can have a redo, Deidara is up and I'm being carried over to the closest pool chair.

Figures the only time I get treated like a princess is when I'm badly hurt.

"I said I'm alright!" I protest, wanting to be up and fighting again. My stomach voices its disagreement and throbs horribly.

Deidara shakes his head, sitting on the edge of the chair. As he continues to rub the circles into my stomach, I sigh and close my eyes, listening to the slowly growing panic in the center of town.

I silently wonder why the siren hasn't been turned on. If anything, I figured it would be the first thing audible after the explosions. Lying there, watching Deidara dull the pain with his magic hands, my mind wanders from the village to my family to the danger I faced to my aching lady parts.

Wait what?

I focus all of my attention to my crotch, hoping that by some divine miracle I can magically shut off the sexual frustration that reared its ugly head in the most opportune times.

It doesn't help that Deidara's hands are venturing dangerously close to my waistband.

They press down under my belly button and I let out a tiny groan. Immediately, I press my hands over my face to shield any and all traces of the red that rushes to my cheeks.

I peek through my fingers at Deidara, who seems to not have noticed my embarrassment. I'm surprised, relieved, and annoyed. Surprised at the fact that he didn't notice, relieved that he didn't notice, and annoyed that he didn't notice.

"Hey," I say, tugging on his ear. "Don't press so hard. I'm sensitive."

"Oh?" The look on his face screams faux-surprise.

"I'm sorry," he whispers. "I didn't know that felt so good, hm."

I panic. _He knows_.

* * *

He can see it in her eyes. The perverse lust reflecting off of them is enough that it almost rivals his own—the only difference is that while he openly embraces it, she tries to hide it.

No matter.

It would all be alright soon enough. After all, he did humor her in the so called 'sparring match' that ended with an unsurprising defeat for Shiori. That meant, of course, the other part of her deal.

He eyes the fist-shaped bruise on Shiori's stomach regretfully. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her any more in the place that reminded him of _that _day. It was a mistake, the punch, and he had only remembered Shiori's previous injury after his punch landed.

She props herself up by her elbows and stares right into his eyes. She sighs, looks down, then back up. She looks indecisive, like she can't figure out what to do.

He loves when she acts like this. It reminds him that she's so innocent; that she's so cute.

That she's all his.

"What's the matter?" he asks her, brushing stray strands of hair out of her face.

She bites her lip and leans even closer towards him. She whispers a proposition in his ear. And said proposition is enough—the small push he needed to release his uncomfortable "friend" from its prison.

"Are we going to…out here?" she asks. Her voice is a quiet whisper. "I don't think—"

"Shush, Shiori. We don't have time to be choosy about this, hm."

He flips her around so she's sitting on his lap. To him, this is a much better position to do it when time was an important factor. The other, "normal," way was just not his style for a quickie. Truthfully, he'd rather be standing, but that was no easy task for beginners such as Shiori.

Maybe he'd teach her another time. _If_ there was another time.

"Wait!" Shiori looks slightly panicked now—her hands are planted firmly on Deidara's chest. "Wait. We can't. We don't have any protection."

He's foreseen this, and quickly produces the small neon colored wrapper from the pocket of his soaked pants, the likes of which he wants to discard. Wet clothes were awful, especially in humid weather.

She stops him again. "Wait!"

He rolls his eyes. "What?"

Her cheeks turn a bright pink and she looks down meekly.

"When we were fighting, did you think I was any good?"

He narrows his eyes in thought. In situations like this, he knows to choose his words carefully—one wrong remark could prevent him from getting any, and _that _would be a most awful end to the night.

"You were _so _good out there, baby," he says, and according to Shiori's look of pure joy, it was the correct response.

"I thought so too. I mean, I know I'll never be as strong as you but, I kicked you into the pool! And that was great!"

He's amused by the childlike excitement radiating off of her. Her confidence seems to have doubled, and she's smiling like she's won the lottery. He can't help but reach up and pull her face to his.

She was just _so cute._

"C'mon," he whispers once their lips part. "Undress for me, hm."

She pulls back and stares straight into his eyes, and he's afraid that she will start to protest and change her mind about doing it. But to his surprise, with fumbling hands, she unbuttons her shorts and stands a bit to slide them off.

"After all, it's part of my deal," she says with a shrug. Deidara's eyes are trained to the blue stripes of Shiori's underwear. His eyes flick upwards to her face, and he can tell that she's incredibly nervous for reasons he can't figure out. It wasn't like it was her first time, so why was she so shaky? Was he too rough? Or was she simply a giant wimp?

He goes for the latter suggestion.

To try and soothe her, he moves into a sitting position with her facing him on his lap. "We'll do it fast, okay? Just relax and let me control, hm."

She nods and places both hands on his shoulders. Her trembling is distracting, like those tiny dogs that seem to always be cold. He sighs and tries to ignore it—after all, it could very well be their last time.

"Raise your hips just a little, hm."

"Okay…"

"Hold it. Don't sit back down yet."

"Okay."

He notices that her eyes are screwed shut. He asks, "What are you doing? Why are your eyes closed, hm?"

"I'm trying to distract myself. I'm too nervous, okay?"

If she doesn't calm down, he knows there is no way that he will be able to comfortably fit. Racking his brain, he thinks of ways that she could distract herself.

"Shiori," he says slowly. "Tell me everything you know about me. Show me your amazing memory, hm."

"O-kay." She exhales, wiggling her fingers and scrunching up her nose the way she does whenever she is deep in thought.

While she speaks, he goes to work on getting "protected", slightly annoyed that, in order to do this, he's had to steal protection from her loose friend.

"—You hail from Iwagakure, your favorite food is Bakudan, you hate rice pilaf, you're 130 pounds and 5 feet 9 inches. Your blood type is AB and your kekkai genkai is Explosion Release. Your ninja registration number is IW-08721, and your jutsu repertoire includes C0, C1, C2, C3, C4, Clay Clone, Earth Release: Hiding Like a Cute Little Mole, Explosive Clay, Explosive Clay _Minions, _Iwagakure Kinjutsu, Shadow Clones, annnd Suicide Bombing Clones. You—ah!"

It works, just as planned.

Hands gripped firmly on her hips, he lifts her up slightly before bringing her roughly back down onto him. Her eyes are screwed shut again and she's still trembling, but at this point he takes it as a good thing.

"I didn't tell you to stop talking," he says, beginning to keep a steady pace. He knows she will hardly be able to talk clearly, but whatever distracts her, the better.

"Um—" She's distracted all right. "Um, you, um were apart of a terrorist bombing group a-and the Akatsuki came to recruit you and you refused and—_ohmygooood."_

The way she breathes out the last few words nearly sets him on _fire. _Her fingers are clamped onto his shoulders so tightly that he thinks they might break, and to prevent that from happening (and to prevent any shoulder damage), he uses one hand to push her closer to him. Her arms now drape over his shoulders, sparing them both from future soreness.

"Shiori," he says. "I want you to tell me when you get close okay, hm?"

She lets out a breathy, "Okay," and leans her head back, face pointed towards the sky.

He decides it would be perfect if she continues to talk in that way.

* * *

"Look who's decided to show up!"

Again, Yomi is annoyed with us.

Again, Yomi glares at Deidara like he is just the personification of disease, warning me, again, to be wary of him. I roll my eyes and go into the guest bedroom, weak in the knees and flushed in the face.

Kazu is awake, and he leans up immediately when I come through the door. "Takamiya! Where were you at?"

"Downstairs…I had...important business to tend to."

He nods as if he understands, and peels away the covers.

"Do you feel any better?" I ask. He nods.

His eyes widen in confusion once he completely assesses my appearance—wet from head to toe and rosy in the cheeks.

"What happened? Did it rain?"

Before I can answer, a voice comes from the open doorway. "Oh it rained _so hard, _hm."

"Quiet, you!" I yell. I'm glad that Kazu is too young and innocent to grasp the hidden innuendo.

He was already corrupted enough.

"Are you hungry?" Almost immediately, Kazu nods and attempts to get down from the bed. I stop him after a glance to his burned legs reminds me that he shouldn't be walking much.

"You stay here," I say, standing. "I'll get it for you."

I watch Deidara light another cigarette as I pass, and I shake my head in disgust. He only smirks.

I'm halfway through to the kitchen when the front door suddenly flies open and Hibari-Sensei comes tumbling through the door with an overstuffed backpack in hand. Makoto isn't far behind.

"Let's go," he says to Yomi. "The hideout is secure, but we need to leave now while the commotion is still high."

Yomi nods and turns around in place, stopping once she sees me in the hall. She ushers me away with her hands, impatiently grabbing her own pack from behind the couch.

"Go! Hurry up! You heard the man, move!"

It's like everything is moving in slow motion and my blood runs cold. I'm reminded now of why I'm here—to be hidden; because the Akatsuki may be after me. I don't instantly notice that I'm being pushed backwards until my back connects with the wall, and it's only then that I scoop up Kazu and the tiny bag that he had prepared all on his own.

I turn to Yomi, who is squinting her eyes at the casually smoking Deidara, and ask, "Can I call my parents first?"

She eyes me warily. "Go ahead, Shiori. But make it fast!"

I don't quite know what to say to my parents, and I definitely don't want to say goodbye. Biting my lip, I remove my hand from the telephone and place it back to my side

.


End file.
